I need help losing weight and getting back in shape (1 Viewer)

[gussy]

Alright, here goes, I know lots of you guys have lots of ideas on this. I'm 46 years old, pretty much started ignoring my health at 30 when I took a desk job. 5'11, a fraction above 260, 42-30 jeans. Inactivity has killed me, graduated high school at 125 lbs, actually used to do some bicycle road racing competitively in my late teens, early 20's. Was around 150 all through my mid 20's, probably about 175 at 30 when I switched jobs. Was pretty consistently between 200-215 up until about 8 years ago when I met my 2nd wife who is a ridiculously good cook, but also works all the time, which means we go out to eat a ton and when we do eat at home, it's usually something ridiculously good, but not necessarily good for me. Our lifestyles aren't good for each other. She was under 140 when we met and she's been pushing up against 200 as well. She is a "diet of the week" girl, although she just started with a personal trainer that we go to church with, so hopefully knowing she has to see her every Sunday will keep her engaged. I've tried tons of different things, weight watchers the only thing that I had moderate success with, but my discipline is severely lacking. Lost a bunch with the Dukan Diet only to put it all back on and then some as soon as I quit. Tried Isagenix most recently. None of those fad diets are going to help me.

A little about my eating habits. Almost always go to work after my wife, so I'd guess 3-4 days a week drive through McD's for breakfast. My main fast food vice. Lunch is often out to eat as well. Subway foot long, Arby's, Tai food usually the most. We go out to dinner often. We usually go nice places, so it's not fast garbage that we're eating, but it's probably larger than normal quantities of good food. I drink too much, but it's kind of a weird "over-drinking" I guess. I don't drink every day, by any means. Maybe 2-3 times a week after golf season, usually with dinner, but when I do drink, it's pretty heavy quantities. Vodka by far the most, followed by scotch, occasionally gin, red wine. Not a ton of beer by any means, usually when golfing or mowing or if we're having pizza or something. I may have 2-3 vodka martinis with a dinner and have a glass of wine after. In the summer during golf season, probably drink 4-5 times a week, and sometimes, more than that. If I'm drinking beer, 6-9 beers is not uncommon. I know there are a ton of guys here who at least TALK like they drink a lot more than that. I've always felt like it's relatively under control, but I will say that it takes a TON to get me drunk. I don't even know if I can get legitimately drunk on beer anymore. Probably 4+ martinis to get me going.

I know that no "jump right in to absolute change" is going to work for me, whatever I do, I have to do gradually. We have a treadmill, and belong to the local Y which is the largest in America and has a GREAT gym, but it's usually occupied by a ton of high school and college kids. Don't tell me to jump right up and walk an hour a day, because that's not going to happen. The thought of a half an hour is something I dread. I could do it, but I'll hate it the whole time. I need (I think) a gradual "get back in to it" type of thing. Both with regards to exercise and changing eating habits. The only truly healthy thing I'd say that I DO do right now is I drink a ton of water. Probably the only thing keeping me alive, lol.

Medical conditions are high blood pressure, high, but improving (with drugs) cholesterol. I take one blood pressure med, two cholesterol meds, acid reflux med, fish oil, two aleve daily, and glucosamine.

I have terrible digestive issues as far as reflux goes, I snore like a mother and have sleep apnea and can't sleep with a mask.

I need help FBG's. I'm all ears. I want to see my grandkids and keep living, ..................go

 

[AcerFC]

Lots of people will tell you excersize and cardio. Some will tell you its simply calories in, calories out

The biggest thing is the desire to do it. It sounds like you have it, but that can last a day or a week. You have to keep that committment.

I would sign up for weight watchers if I was you. They do a great job with their point system. The weekly weigh in is something that can keep you motivated.

Best of luck dude. Stay committed and it will happen for you.

 

[Otis]

I've got this.

 

[matuski]

Portions (turn that footlong into a 6"), excercise.

Eat less, get more active.. easier said than done, but there isn't anything complicated about it.

 

[Hoh]

Go slow. Start off by committing to walking every day. Even if it's once around the block. And if you can manage it start eating a piece of fruit before every meal. Fiber fiber fiber.

 

[Limp Ditka]

I've got this.

 

[Limp Ditka]

Start with just diet, it's going to be 90% of your battle. So get your appetite under control before you do anything else. Eat smaller portions, more often during the day. And the more natural you can eat, the better. That will allow yourself to eat because you should, not because you're hungry / famished.

 

[Christo]

yoga

 

[John Bender]

Just listen to Otis.

I'm working hard with a long way to go.

We're both gamblers. Let's put up 1000 dollars each held by a trusted board member. If we both lose x amount percentage of weight, we keep our money. If neither of us do, the one who lost highest percentage wins.

I could go higher on the amount. I really need a kick in the ### to not start slacking again during holidays.

 

[ghostguy123]

The time it took you to post that, 20+ pushups, 20+ squats, and some situps. Maybe two sets of each depending how fast/slow you type.

I am in the same boat. Small changes at first, and hopefully progress from there.

Good luck.

 

[ClownCausedChaos2]

In the past year, I went from 275 to 220. I'm also 5'11". I am currently 37 and graduated at 195 lbs. My story was almost exactly like yours. Here's what I did:

I started a Couch-to-5K program. There's a ton of Couch-to-5K apps out there. I tried some free ones, but found that the one from Active.com ($0.99) tracked my progress the best.

I cut out in-between meal snacking. Breakfast, lunch, dinner, and that's it.

I made sure that I ate breakfast (usually oatmeal). I didn't eat breakfast before, and was always starving at lunch. Eating breakfast helped me not eat as much at lunch.

I also took more leftovers at lunch, instead of eating out.

I used to have a pudding every day after lunch. I got a back of Hershey's miniatures and ate one of those to cure my sweet tooth, instead.

Cut out soda and drank a lot of water.

At dinner, we ate a lot of grilled chicken marinated in low-calorie sauces. Teriyaki sauce, BBQ sauce, Chipotle sauce (however you spell it). Also, we were eating a lot of those pre-packaged noodles. We started eating vegetables, salads, and whole wheat pasta as sides.

Also did some portion control at dinner. Cut chicken breasts in half length-wise.

On the weekends, all bets were off on foods, but I still stuck to the no snack/no soda rule.

The first two weeks or so sucked. It felt like I was always just a little bit hungry, but my body adjusted and got used to it pretty quickly. It seems like a lot when I type it out, but it really wasn't once I got started. It was a slow loss (took about 5 months), but I've never believed in those fad diets and didn't want to lose the weight that way.

Good luck!

 

[proteus126]

If you are serious about this, a spreadsheet is your friend. Count calories in and exercise calories burned. One row per day, one month per tab. Update it daily. The math is inescapable. 3500 calories = 1lb, in the long run. There is no easy way out.

 

[NutterButter]

Chances are you're screwed but good luck

 

[AAABatteries]

I've got this.

 

[The General]

I've got this.

 

[spreagle]

Here's a few non-traditional ideas I threw together. Gyms all the time are boring.

) Get a dog. Take it for a long walk every day. Never finish what's on your plate, the last 10% is for the dog now. Between burning calories walking the dog and forgoing calories on you plate that 500 calories a day right there. 1 POUND A WEEK of weight loss.

2) Get rid of the riding lawnmower. Riding lawnmowers are for fatties. You're a lean and mean push mower guy now. Also no snowblower, you're shoveling from here on out. Dont worry about heart attacks, if its gonna happen its gonna happen. I don't know how many extra calories get burnt by forgoing the mechanical helpers but it will definitely be a lot.

3) Get an outdoor hobby that requires some effort for the days you don't feel like going to the gym.

 

[Lowen1]

If you are serious about this, a spreadsheet is your friend. Count calories in and exercise calories burned. One row per day, one month per tab. Update it daily. The math is inescapable. 3500 calories = 1lb, in the long run. There is no easy way out.

If a spreadsheet is not your thing there are plenty of online apps. I use myfitnesspal.com. Free version. I track everything I eat. I set a weight loss goal (one pound/week) and mfp tells me my daily calorie allowance. If I exercise I get more calories. For example 30 minutes on the bike gets me ~300 extra calories. I've dropped 21 pounds since the spring 229 from 250) with a goal of 200 by summer. Slow steady progress is the key for me. It would be nice to drop 10 pounds in a week but that is not sustainable.

 

[fatness]

Start with just diet, it's going to be 90% of your battle. So get your appetite under control before you do anything else. Eat smaller portions, more often during the day. And the more natural you can eat, the better. That will allow yourself to eat because you should, not because you're hungry / famished.

The first two weeks or so sucked. It felt like I was always just a little bit hungry, but my body adjusted and got used to it pretty quickly. It seems like a lot when I type it out, but it really wasn't once I got started. It was a slow loss (took about 5 months), but I've never believed in those fad diets and didn't want to lose the weight that way.

Good advice here. Cutting back on what you eat reduces your appetite after awhile, and you end up eating what you need instead of what you want. Weight loss will follow, as will more energy, making it easier to start (and continue) exercising.

Start with the food.

 

[IvanKaramazov]

McDonalds for breakfast. Fast food for lunch. Dinners out. That's a huge chunk of why you've gained weight. I know it's a big lifestyle change, but if you could find a way to cut those meals out of your routine -- all of them but perhaps one nice meal out per week -- it would be a fantastic start. I'll have to defer to others on the particulars because I'm a distance runner and eat a high-carb diet, but you're taking in a ton of unnecessary calories here.

The excessive drinking is item #2 on the agenda, but honestly I think you could lose weight just by cleaning up your diet.

Light cardio is also a good addition. Again, your diet is the main thing to hit first.

Edit: Seriously, I run 35 miles per week and I would gain weight hand over fist if I ate out as much as you do.

 

[Arsenal of Doom]

When I was in my mid-late 30s I got up close to 300 lbs. In my 40s I've been able to stay pretty easily in the low 200s at 6'3" currently at 210. The biggest thing for me was just awareness of what and how much I was eating. There are a bunch of different apps you can get now to help you track what you are eating. I use MyFitnessPal currently but most any should work fine. I would recommend starting to use one and track everything, and I do mean everything ​you eat and drink.

The apps make it easy to do this, with databases of just about everything you can get at a store or restaurant and you can even scan in food by bar-code. Don't even try to alter your diet for the first week or so, just track and see how much you are consuming. If you are like me, you'll be amazed at how much more you consume on a daily basis than you really need.

Once you are comfortable tracking, try setting a lower calorie goal. The apps can help you set a target based on how much and how fast you want to lose weight. It'll be hard at first, but try to keep eating foods you like in smaller portions and find lower calorie options you enjoy.

Start to get more active. If you can, get an activity tracker that you can sync with your food app. I find that when you track together it's extremely helpful because on days you eat more it can prompt you to do a little more activity to balance it out. Find activities you like to do, don't make it a chore. You also don't need to be a workout warrior to lose weight. Walking is enough to help the process, though if you can do more it only helps.

One last thing I think is insanely important... don't let yourself get discouraged! If you have a bad eating day, just track it and move onto tomorrow. It's what you do over long periods that matters. Weeks and months matter, not bad days. It's easy thought to let one bad day snowball and all of sudden you have momentum going in the wrong direction. You'll also have days and weeks when you don't see the scale move the way you think it should. Again, don't get discouraged! Trust the process and numbers and data you are tracking with. As long as you aren't wildly mistracking or estimating wrong on your food portions, it will even out over time.

I'm not saying this is easy, but I can tell you that if you make the commitment to form the right habits there will come a time in the not too far off future where you look back and wonder why it felt so hard.

 

[McGarnicle]

Pick a physical activity you will enjoy doing, like riding a bike or tennis. For me it's disc golf. Hell of a workout walking up and down hills, and doesn't feel like work. I don't have to talk myself into going because it's the most fun sport God ever gave man.

 

[gussy]

You've come to the right place. Best of luck.

You mention you eat out a lot, how many sodas do you drink a week? If your answer is "several", stop that.

After many years of personal research I have determined that drinking alcohol makes you very hungry the next day.

I rarely drink soda. Maybe 1-2 diet soda's per week. Usually drink ice tea if I get a combo meal or something, otherwise I keep water in my work fridge, so I'll bring a sandwich back and drink water.

 

[boots11234]

[SIZE=10.5pt]OK stone cold truth here...You're a mess and probably an alcoholic. Your medical conditions are only going to get worse and Im guessing your probably border line diabetic. You have no chance of see your grand-kids grow up at the pace your going.[/SIZE] You are going to die and die young if you don’t change.

[SIZE=10.5pt]I hope you are afraid of the above. If not re-read it, that is your reality unless you change. There is hope however as you have the desire to change. That by far is the biggest step that lots of people don’t even get to. You want to change, good for you. I have a few suggestions.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.5pt]Get a fit bit. LOTS of people you know have them. They are very motivational. You can challenge friends and provide encouragement through the app to them and them to you.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.5pt]Get the fit bit scale. Again for motivation.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.5pt]Get MyFitnessPal app. You will use this to log all your food. This shows you exactly how many calories you are eating. Not going to lie, it sucks the first week because you have to enter in all your food but you will be surprised at how often you eat the same things and once you enter an item once its easy to reselect it from your list. They even make this first week easier because you can scan bar codes to enter the item. TONS of restaurants are listed in this app. You can also sync this to your fit bit and link up with friends who can provide encouragement. [/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.5pt]Do not drink any calories and no diet pop either. Once you start logging your going to be shocked at how many calories you’re drinking.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.5pt]Losing weight is like what one other poster said, less calories = losing weight. Quite straight forward. Exercise doesn’t do chit if you’re eating like crap. You’ll never run off a big mac. [/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.5pt]You need to get your sleep apnea under control. You’re not getting good sleep. Poor sleep equals poor diet. Once you get a fitbit it will show you how many times you are restless through the night. When I don’t wear my mask it is astounding how poor I sleep. I check my fitbit and am amazed at nights with my mask vs without my mask. Also apnea leads to heart problems. If you absolutely cannot wear your mask a new implant was just approved this year or last for apnea. Insurance companies don’t like to pay for it as a front line solution because it is much more expensive then a mask. They will however approve it because they realize if they don’t pay for it now they will pay much more later with all the complications apnea causes. I don’t remember the name of the company but I know they are based in MN and the device is very affective. Talk to your primary care Dr.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.5pt]For exercise just aim for 10,000 steps a day on the tread mill. [/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.5pt]There are also many apps for 100 pushups. It teaches you how to start slow and gradually build up to 100 pushups a day.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.5pt]Before you do anything, see your Dr and get a full physical. This is to make sure your good to go and to be amazed at when you get it redone in a year and see the huge differences.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.5pt]Take a picture of yourself in your underwear now. Then in 3 months and see the changes. That’s great motivation.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.5pt]Go to the website bodybuilding dot com. Go to their forum called Misc and read the post called Ask the formerly fattest man on the misc anything. Dude started out weighing 653 pounds and is down to 394 in a relatively short period of time. He has done it all through diet and exercise. I believe his first exercise was just flapping his arms…No Kidding!![/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.5pt]You can do this and I will be following this thread for updates. [/SIZE]

 

[gussy]

Here's a few non-traditional ideas I threw together. Gyms all the time are boring.

) Get a dog. Take it for a long walk every day. Never finish what's on your plate, the last 10% is for the dog now. Between burning calories walking the dog and forgoing calories on you plate that 500 calories a day right there. 1 POUND A WEEK of weight loss.

2) Get rid of the riding lawnmower. Riding lawnmowers are for fatties. You're a lean and mean push mower guy now. Also no snowblower, you're shoveling from here on out. Dont worry about heart attacks, if its gonna happen its gonna happen. I don't know how many extra calories get burnt by forgoing the mechanical helpers but it will definitely be a lot.

3) Get an outdoor hobby that requires some effort for the days you don't feel like going to the gym.

I have 2 dogs, one is a 12 year old lab that couldn't walk around the block and is about to die, and is 115 lbs, the other is a 6 year old retriever that goes 140. If I started giving him 10% of my food he'd be 200 in no time. My vet already yells at me, lol.

 

[NREC34]

Get a diet app to track your calories. I use loseit. A lot of people prefer myfittnesspal (I think it's called). They're all essentially the same thing.

Take up running. Walk at first until you're light enough to run.

That's all you need to do.

 

[Willie Neslon]

I'll echo others in the thread who have said it's mostly about diet. You need to make changes. McD's breakfast, fast food lunch and big dinner out? That's going to make most people who exercise daily put on a ton of weight. More fiber, limit carbs. Maybe a high fiber cereal w/ fruit at home. Something without bread for lunch, maybe a salad. Then lean meats and veg for dinner. I've posted about it here a bunch but I bought that Blendtec last Christmas and have eaten more vegetables this year than the last 25 combined and that's not an exaggeration. The vegetables I put in that are basically my lunch every day. Throw in some walking to start and the weight will fly off. The good news is as addicting as it is to eat poorly, I've found it's equally addicting to eat well, especially if you're following your progress with weight loss and seeing results. Good luck. You can do it.

 

[Tick]

I'll go back and read the other replies, but my recommendation is to get MyFitnessPal on your phone and track your calories. Don't worry about what makes up those calories that much - don't focus on fat, carbs, sugars, or anything else. Just set a reasonable goal (1 pound per week since you're starting from a spot where you can probably lose it quickly) and log your calories. It'll teach you a ton. Some things I learned (probably different for everyone):

• I can't really eat a full restaurant lunch if I want to have enough calories available for dinner... unless I'm exercising that day. So, if I go out to lunch, it's with the plan to take half back and leave it in the work fridge to eat the next day.
• I can't drink sugared drinks - they have too many calories to make the rest of the day's calories work.
• Some foods aren't good enough to justify the calories... donuts for me - they're okay, but not worth the amount of the calorie budget they eat up.
• Playing soccer or mountain biking really isn't enough to justify a trip through the drive through. I used to put weight on in the summer because without adding the calories, I didn't realize that a QPC meal is more calories than I'm burning in exercise.

 

[Tick]

If you are serious about this, a spreadsheet is your friend. Count calories in and exercise calories burned. One row per day, one month per tab. Update it daily. The math is inescapable. 3500 calories = 1lb, in the long run. There is no easy way out.

Get an app IMO. This sounds like calculating your FF score from a newspaper with an abacus.

 

[Quint]

very similar situation to the OP. lived like a frat-guy for 15 years after turning 30. was hovering around 290 (at 5' 11") at the worst of it. same eating & drinking habits. got my #### together about a year ago.

my .02:

- cut back on the drinking. just empty calories and will probably help with getting a decent night's sleep. maybe get it down to one day a week for a while? as your tolerance goes down, the less it will take to get you buzzed.

- exercise. doesn't matter what, but something every day for 30 minutes minimum. i love golf, got out of the cart and started walking. gravity and i don't get along well, so it was into the pool (helped that i was a swimmer back in the day). walking, pushups, biking, etc. also helped. just do something. as your metabolism gets going, it will be easier to shed lbs. will also help with blood pressure and BMI.

- quit fast food.that's the worst. get up 15 minutes earlier and make a turkey sandwich or something instead of McD's. going out to lunch? have a salad. yeah, it sucks, but after a few weeks it'll get easier. you don't have to give up great meals with your wife, just eat less and take a to-go container home (can be breakfast/lunch the next day).

as for the college kids at the gym: #### them. it took me a long time to realize that some of my fear of change was how people might judge my appearance (fat!) at the gym and the pool. guess what? nobody cares. after a year of doing it, i see people there who are where i was when i started. my thoughts: good for them. don't worry about what other people think, worry about getting yourself in better shape.

GL

 

[Hoh]

Masturbation = calories out.

 

[boots11234]

Masturbation = calories out.

Lol

 

[BigSteelThrill]

Great supplementation/drugs. We now know a ton on how the human body reacts to various input.

Combine that with cardio and diet and a balls to the wall 90 days (you need a couple weeks to get some general fitness beforehand) and you will drop to 225 or so.

Then just keep going to the gym (more days then not) while keeping a bit of an eye on diet (dont have to be perfect) and you are good to go.

 

[Ilov80s]

McDonalds for breakfast. Fast food for lunch. Dinners out. That's a huge chunk of why you've gained weight. I know it's a big lifestyle change, but if you could find a way to cut those meals out of your routine -- all of them but perhaps one nice meal out per week -- it would be a fantastic start. I'll have to defer to others on the particulars because I'm a distance runner and eat a high-carb diet, but you're taking in a ton of unnecessary calories here.

The excessive drinking is item #2 on the agenda, but honestly I think you could lose weight just by cleaning up your diet.

Light cardio is also a good addition. Again, your diet is the main thing to hit first.

Edit: Seriously, I run 35 miles per week and I would gain weight hand over fist if I ate out as much as you do.

This is good advice, but I can't overlook the drinking. Both for your weight and especially your blood pressure, excessive drinking is not good.

 

[James Daulton]

I fear you've come to the wrong place.

If however you must take advice from FBG's, a good start would be the opposite of whatever Otis or CCC2 recommend.

 

[Ilov80s]

Do you like podcasts? Music? Have Spotify? Get into these and it's not walking 30 minutes a day, it's discovering new music or catching up on your favorite podcast.

 

[jwb]

I'm not into the apps or calorie counting, so I can't help you there, but there are three things you can do to drastically improve your weight:

Breakfast and lunch must change. Nothing will happen until you stop with the fast food twice a day. A cup of yogurt for breakfast, have some nuts around 11am to hold you over, and something reasonable for lunch - preferably something without bread. That's step one.

Step 2 is stop w/ the diet soda and iced tea. Drink water. If you must have flavor, buy some flavored seltzer. Don't drink your calories, and diet soda is horrible for you.

Step three? Alcohol. Cut down. Cut it in half, in fact. That you say you are reading what others drink and saying "well, I'm ok then" is a bit of a clue that yea, you drink too much. I'm 49 and cut my drinking in half about a year ago - just kind of naturally happened, as the buzz just wasn't agreeing with me anymore. I drank like you say you do - only 2 or 3 days a week, a few drinks each time, or maybe 6-8 beers on a Saturday... I was doing maybe 12-15 drinks a week. I cut that in half, and almost immediately lost 10 pounds without even trying. I'm down to maybe 5 drinks a week now - the upside is, I lost a lot of tolerance. 2-3 beers is a fine evening now.

Do these three simple things, and everything will improve.

 

[Gator Shawn]

Check out the weight loss thread if someone didn't mention it already, but I can tell you that I have lost close to 90 lbs and have another 70 to go. I started walking 45 minutes every day, and when I started to have more energy, I started cycling. After awhile, I started jogging. Now I'm running 5Ks almost every other weekend since I need new t-shirts since none of my old ones fit anymore

At the same time, I used a site like myfitnesspal to log my food. I did it for awhile just to help illustrate when and where I was getting my calories. After awhile, I stopped logging, because I'm more in tune with what I eat now.

I usually start the day with greek yogurt (1 C), mix in some maple syrup (1 tbs) and some steel cut oats (2 tbs).

Then for lunch, I usually have a can of sardines or some leftover chicken, but on some days I'll go to Wendys or some other fast food and get burger or two.*

For dinner I usually make a meat, typically chicken breast or pork tenderloin, and sometimes rice if I have a sauce of some sort with the chicken, but usually just broccoli.

For snack or dessert I have almond butter or peanut butter or sometimes a handful of almonds.

This amounts to between 1700-2200 calories depending on whether I have fast food and how much snacking I do.

One day a week, I usually have whatever I want, usually it's pizza or whatever, and I usually do that on Saturdays because I typically do my long ride or long run on Saturday mornings.

One or two days a week, I will skip dinner (intermittent fasting) and dessert to keep my total calorie intake for the week at about 2K calories per day.

* if I lost you when I said this, don't worry, you don't have to give up everything, you just need to know not only where your calories are coming from, but what types of calories you are eating.

 

[gussy]

I'm not into the apps or calorie counting, so I can't help you there, but there are three things you can do to drastically improve your weight:

Breakfast and lunch must change. Nothing will happen until you stop with the fast food twice a day. A cup of yogurt for breakfast, have some nuts around 11am to hold you over, and something reasonable for lunch - preferably something without bread. That's step one.

Step 2 is stop w/ the diet soda and iced tea. Drink water. If you must have flavor, buy some flavored seltzer. Don't drink your calories, and diet soda is horrible for you.

Step three? Alcohol. Cut down. Cut it in half, in fact. That you say you are reading what others drink and saying "well, I'm ok then" is a bit of a clue that yea, you drink too much. I'm 49 and cut my drinking in half about a year ago - just kind of naturally happened, as the buzz just wasn't agreeing with me anymore. I drank like you say you do - only 2 or 3 days a week, a few drinks each time, or maybe 6-8 beers on a Saturday... I was doing maybe 12-15 drinks a week. I cut that in half, and almost immediately lost 10 pounds without even trying. I'm down to maybe 5 drinks a week now - the upside is, I lost a lot of tolerance. 2-3 beers is a fine evening now.

Do these three simple things, and everything will improve.

Iced tea is a problem?

 

[bizkliz]

This works for me.

I buy some new tunes, and tell myself I can only listen to said album/songs while I am running.

Or.

If you have access to a home treadmill//elliptical near a tv, buy new movie or DVDs collection. Tell yourself you can only watch that movie/show while you are exercising.

I love lifting but not such a big fan of cardio. The music thing is ideal for me. I throw on my iPod and hit the track. Usually get 2-4 miles in the time it takes to listen to an entire album. But as echoed in the above comments, consistency is the key. And once the results start coming (usually a few weeks) it becomes even more motivating.

Good luck brother.

 

[Rohn Jambo]

Stay away from these:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eSv_crB6rsI

 

[Northern Voice]

This repeats a lot of what Gator Sgawn said...

My opinion - I'm not skinny but I'm not fat and dropped from 250ish to 210 about 10 years ago and have hovered around there ever since while maintaining a lifestyle that lets me eat well and drink too much a couple times a month.

Like everyone has said, myfitnesspal is a great app. You can eat well on 1500-2000 calories a day, you won't starve, you can eat tasty food, you just learn to budget it better.

You can have McDonalds for breakfast but get an egg mcmuffin and coffee. No sausage, no hash browns, etc... The McMuffin itself is 290 calories and you can keep the convenience and feeling of cheating/fast food that is part of your lifestyle.

Similar for lunch, Subway is kinda #### but if you have to eat there, a 6" sub, no mayo, no chips/cookies and water/coffee/low calorie drink won't kill you (or at least aspartame and cured meats will kill you slower). You'd be a lot better to just cook chicken or whatever you want for the week and make your own better tasting, better for you sandwich, but again, that may not fit your lifestyle.

Those two changes should allow you to have a decent supper without going over 2K calories a day, which is about where myfitnesspal will likely put you.

For drinking, I'm a bad one to talk to, I typically drop a couple pounds a week and put them back on with 6-10 beers on Saturday night. My wife and I often go out for dinner on Friday night and eat well, if not for this, I'd be under 200, but that stuff is important to me, and without those cheat times I'd feel less quality of life or go off the rails completely and gain 40 pounds back.

The couch to 5K app is a great suggestion. I did that, I'm competitive, so it became a challenge to me to beat my fastest 3K time, then fastest 5K, then 10K etc...

If not that, I play squash 2-3 times a week with a buddy who was very big and he's lost ~40 pounds basically on that alone. Finding something fun that gives you exercise is key to me, treadmills are the worst.

 

[jwb]

I'm not into the apps or calorie counting, so I can't help you there, but there are three things you can do to drastically improve your weight:

Breakfast and lunch must change. Nothing will happen until you stop with the fast food twice a day. A cup of yogurt for breakfast, have some nuts around 11am to hold you over, and something reasonable for lunch - preferably something without bread. That's step one.

Step 2 is stop w/ the diet soda and iced tea. Drink water. If you must have flavor, buy some flavored seltzer. Don't drink your calories, and diet soda is horrible for you.

Step three? Alcohol. Cut down. Cut it in half, in fact. That you say you are reading what others drink and saying "well, I'm ok then" is a bit of a clue that yea, you drink too much. I'm 49 and cut my drinking in half about a year ago - just kind of naturally happened, as the buzz just wasn't agreeing with me anymore. I drank like you say you do - only 2 or 3 days a week, a few drinks each time, or maybe 6-8 beers on a Saturday... I was doing maybe 12-15 drinks a week. I cut that in half, and almost immediately lost 10 pounds without even trying. I'm down to maybe 5 drinks a week now - the upside is, I lost a lot of tolerance. 2-3 beers is a fine evening now.

Do these three simple things, and everything will improve.

Iced tea is a problem?

I guess it depends - if it's unsweetened, no. If it's Snapple, yes.

 

[jwb]

If you have access to a home treadmill//elliptical near a tv, buy new movie or DVDs collection. Tell yourself you can only watch that movie/show while you are exercising.

I do this. The upside is, you can seriously binge watch a lot of good stuff you otherwise wouldn't have time for.

 

[SameSongNDance]

Paleo diet + intermittent fasting (12 or 16 hours) + interval training. It's kind of extreme but the results are even more extreme.

 

[MAC_32]

Reads like preparation and discipline are your primary issues. When you go bad you go excessive and you go bad too often.

Make a weekly shopping list. Only purchase foods from that list. Do not veer. Only purchase items on the outer rim of the store. Prepare a lot of food on Sunday. First thing when you get home at night, get your food ready the next day. Pack it up and put it in the fridge. Stop eating 3-4 hours before bed.

Secondarily, move and sleep more.

No cheating until you hit your first goal.

 

[Binky The Doormat]

Just listen to Otis.

I'm working hard with a long way to go.

We're both gamblers. Let's put up 1000 dollars each held by a trusted board member. If we both lose x amount percentage of weight, we keep our money. If neither of us do, the one who lost highest percentage wins.

I could go higher on the amount. I really need a kick in the ### to not start slacking again during holidays.

Gussy - wow, your eating/drinking habits sound a lot like mine and I have some similar health issues and couple more. Bottom line is I gotta eat better, quick drinking (fatty liver), and exercise. Even just start walking. I can't compete with you and JB for percent loss but maybe we can work something out. It would be cool to motivate one another. You can PM me or communicate here but I am up for it. I posted here a couple of weeks and outside of only drinking once (should be none) I haven't done jack to eat better or exercise yet.

Have you gone the green smoothie route? That will be part of my plan. I don't love vegetables and its a great way to get especially the dark green ones inside you. Pretty filling too. Takes a minute to blend up and you can take it with you in the car instead of hitting up McDonalds. I brought a blender to work to have them for lunch because I usually didn't have much of an appetite in the early morning.

 

[Ladsud]

Stop drinking alcohol. Your couple beers with your pizza, your vodka. If you want to drop weight quit eating pizza and drinking beer.

 

[Daywalker]

I'm 5-11. Was 225 about three months ago. Now down to 200. Want to get to 175.

Bought a decent stair-climber. $1100. Do a hard 45 minutes nearly everyday. Lower impact then jogging and so convenient.

Grocery list:

Chicken all the time.

Shrimp. Thaw it out in five minutes. So quick and convenient. Use cocktail sauce.

Sara Lee 45 calorie per slice whole wheat bread.

Smuckers sugar free Strawberry preserve.

I Can't believe it not butter spray. I snack on low calorie toast all the time. Toast it on a frying pan.

Rice Cakes. White cheddar or caramel. Also sprinkle some of the white cheddar powder that is found next to the popcorn.

Powerade zero.

Egg beaters

Turkey Bacon. Make lots of egg beaters and turkey bacon melts.

Heinz sugar free ketchup. low calorie. Not bad

Fat free All beef hotdogs. With low calorie bread and mustard. Gets the job done.

Skinny Cow chocolate fudge bars. Only 100 calories.

Hard boild egg. Remove the yokes.

Skim milk craft singles. Make grill cheese with low cal bread. Lots of mustard.

Lemon popsicles. Think brand is Dole. like 100 calories each.

Low cal miracle whip. Make chicken salad. Then chicken melts with low calorie bread in frying pan.

Jello-sugar free chocolate pudding. Put a little whip cream on top.

Honey mustard is great on chicken melts.

Coke zero and diet dr. pepper.

Yoplait light strawberry yogurt.

Claussen pickles a nice side with melts.

Diet A&W root beer with whipped cream.

I still drink way too much. But waist down from a snug 40 to a snug 36.

Everything above is easy to prepare. 10 minutes or less.

No fast food. Avoid any bread other then the low cal Sara Lee.

Foods above not exactly restrictive. Chicken melts, Egg beaters/turkey bacon melts, hot dogs, grill cheesse, shrimp, strawberry jelly/toast and chocolate.

Plus if you get addicted to podcasts, Dan Carlin-Bill Simmons-Zack Lowe, then zoning out on the stair-climber something I look forward too. Get a great sweat but not something I dread. Plus it right at my house. Done in 45 minutes. No driving back and forth to gym.

Like I said still drink too much. But my appetite is gone. Not sugar crazy anymore. Today I had two eggbeater/cheese melts, handful of cheese and a couple of bites of calamari that I couldn't resist. Throwing back some beers now though.

 

[Daywalker]

Sounds like many have had success with apps. Not for me though. I don't even go on a scale. Just let time do the trick. Fixating on calories and your weight daily will just discourage you because it normally is a slow process. Just my opinion.

 

[SameSongNDance]

@Daywalker - Low-fat/fat free foods, especially the dairy type are a huge trap. Stuff like "I can't believe it's not butter" seem to be healthy on the surface but you are often times much better served eating full fat butter, milk, cheese and etc. Fat-free products are extremely processed (how the #### do you make butter fat free?), less satiating and can be counter-productive when said products would instead be providing you with the healthy, monosaturated fats that lead to a leaner waste. Even saturated fats aren't bad for you when eaten in moderation.