I am not focusing on the fasting thing. But it does kind of fall into what I am doing. I do not eat breakfast early. Sometime around 10 or 11am. A couple egg's. Then a light lucnh around 2 or 2:30pm. Then dinner at 6pm. Usually nothing after. That is the toughest part. But so far so good. So in theory that is a 16-17 hour daily fasting window. Maintaining that schedule in working pretty well for me. For breakfast, lunch and snacks I am pretty dialed in on what I am consuming. Diner we eat what we have pretty much always ate. I am just eating about 1/2 of what I used to consume. No sweets, and virtually no processed sugar. Have eliminated unhealthy snacking altogether. Probably drinking a couple of qts of water a day. A bit of ice tea once in a while.

The cleansing of of my insides has to be a good thing. Guess a bit of a detox for my liver too.

June 1st update:

Total weight loss since 4/1 = 44.5 lbs

Got a fancy new smart scale that provides Body Fat, and a bunch of other measurements. As of this morning, BF was 43.8% I don’t have a starting number so will monitor that from June on. Goal is to get it under 30%.

Muscle mass and bone mass percentages look good, water percentage is a bit low even though I am drinking about a gallon or more a day. No signs of dehydration, but will keep an eye on it.

Calculated Body Mass Index (BMI) has gone from 52.1 to 45.3. Evidently I am now just “Morbidly Obese” (BMI greater than 40) which, as bad as that sounds, is actually an improvement from being “Super-Morbidly Obese” (BMI greater than 50).


Already seeing obvious sagging skin on abdomen and front of thighs. Guess I better start saving for a tummy tuck down the road


For those who like numbers…

May Pounds lost = 25.9
May outdoor walk miles = 61
May Peloton bike miles = 58.3

May Average daily calorie intake = 1297
May Average daily calorie burn = 3723
May Average daily calorie deficit = 2426

Looking forward to see how June compares. I am expecting the pounds to drop slower, hopefully in part due to less muscle loss by doing low carb intermittent fasting. Goal for June loss is going to be 20 lbs.

Great job 911boss!

I’d suggest upping your daily calories to at least 1800 if not 2,000+ though. This is a marathon not a sprint. Too low calories for too long lowers your metabolism and creates a viscous cycle in the wrong direction.

Long term sustainable weight loss is better than quickly getting to your “goal” and then over the next year gaining it all back and more, what happens the majority of the time.

In December, I was officially diabetic. I began intermittent fasting and basically skipped breakfast. I've been eating Salads for lunch with tuna and have a normal meal for dinner.

I've lost about 20 pounds and during my checkup last month, I was no longer diabetic and wasn't even in the pre-diabetic range. My wife told me I look different and she showed me pictures from November of last year compared to pictures taken this past weekend.

November... (maybe 285 pounds)


This past weekend... (265-ish range)




My goal is 200 pounds but my short term is to be in the 250's.

Tony.

quote:

Originally posted by OttoSig:

Serious question...whats the difference?

The produce the same result don't they?

Fasting for 18 hours vs eating in a 6 hour period is the same thing? Or am I misunderstanding the concept?

after extensive reading, books and blog posts, and videos, it's my understanding that definitions vary all over the place, so you're right - both are fasting - taking note of the last time you ate and the interval to the start of your next meal.

to me, and my n=1, i categorize IF as a 24 hr or more period of not eating, and TRE as anything less (skipping breakfast, or skipping lunch and dinner).

then there's omad (one meal a day), which does not always equal 24 hr of not eating, so lies right on the line sometimes between the two.

which is neither here nor there as you're keeping your organs insulin sensitive, instead of the more unhealthy / deadly insulin restricted / insulin resistance.

e.g.

from Fatty Liver Disease and Ketogenic Diets

quote:

Lack of Saturated Fat Consumption: At least two studies, one from Duke University, and one from Cambridge University have shown that reducing carbohydrate consumption and increasing saturated fat intake helps the liver shed excess fat in as little as three days.

in the old days, liver problems meant you were a heavy drinker. then after the government's low fat craze, doctors found patients telling them they didn't drink, and they had fatty livers, so they called them liars and didn't believe them.

eventually they had to come up with a new term - and non-alcoholic fatty liver (NAFLD) disease was born.

Good deal benny. Keep it up. You definitely look healthier. I am just two weeks in and have dropped twelve lbs. I started at 227lbs and am hoping to be at 200lbs by the 4th of july. I am doing a 16 hour fasting period. Eating a regular dinner. Small breakfast and very small lunch.

Kind of fell off the wagon a bit yesterday and went to a favorite bbq place with my father. Not horribly so, but definitely off the wagon. Drank a ton of water last night as the bbq always makes me want to drink a bucket of H2o.
Breakfast today will probably be at a 17 hour fasting time frame.

quote:

Originally posted by Strambo:
Great job 911boss!

I’d suggest upping your daily calories to at least 1800 if not 2,000+ though. This is a marathon not a sprint. Too low calories for too long lowers your metabolism and creates a viscous cycle in the wrong direction.

Long term sustainable weight loss is better than quickly getting to your “goal” and then over the next year gaining it all back and more, what happens the majority of the time.

I am way too heavy to try and see progress at 2000 calories a day. I have done that in the past and for me I think that is one of the contributing factors to failure. I have yo-yo’d many times over the years. The time has come for drastic measure and changes. I am very opposed to bariatric surgery due to the restrictions that come with it. Lot of folks I work with have had it, lost weight fast, then returned to their previous size over 3-5 years. I think learning to limit intake as a willful behavioral change instead of by experiencing physical discomfort will work better for me.

Once I get to my goal, my “non-diet” intake will be in the 2000 range. At 58 years old and only 5’8”, I need to be at the low end of the “suggested” 2000-2500 calories daily intake. Averaging 1800-2000 at this point would require a 50% increase in exercise to see the progress I need to stay motivated.

While I averaged 1200+ over May, there was a lot of variation. Daily calories went from a low of 808 calories to a high of 2003. Lots of 1400+ days along with lots of 1000-1100 days. As of yet I haven’t hit a plateau or seen any reduction in metabolism.

quote:

Originally posted by benny6:
In December, I was officially diabetic. I began intermittent fasting and basically skipped breakfast. I've been eating Salads for lunch with tuna and have a normal meal for dinner.

I've lost about 20 pounds and during my checkup last month, I was no longer diabetic and wasn't even in the pre-diabetic range. My wife told me I look different and she showed me pictures from November of last year compared to pictures taken this past weekend…

Tony.

You are like me, loss shows quickly in the face. I have “lost” one chin, one more to go I wish I had your upper body build. Wasn’t blessed with broad shoulders and most of my weight is around my waist.

Congrats on becoming “post-diabetic”! That is one of my goals. Have you been checking BS regularly? If so, what has your range been since you lost the weight?

I have seen my numbers improve dramatically, but I won’t really know the official progress until my next A1C check next month. I got my “official” type 2 diagnosis when I was about 315 lbs or so. I have just dropped under 300, am hoping once I get to the 270 range I will be nearly “cured”. Although I think medically speaking, once diagnosed you are never “cured” you simply have it controlled or are in “remission”. Either way, if I could get off the meds that would be a huge plus.

quote:

Originally posted by old rugged cross:
I am just two weeks in and have dropped twelve lbs. I started at 227lbs and am hoping to be at 200lbs by the 4th of july. I am doing a 16 hour fasting period. Eating a regular dinner. Small breakfast and very small lunch.

Kind of fell off the wagon a bit yesterday and went to a favorite bbq place with my father. Not horribly so, but definitely off the wagon. Drank a ton of water last night as the bbq always makes me want to drink a bucket of H2o.
Breakfast today will probably be at a 17 hour fasting time frame.

12 lbs in two weeks is very respectable, congrats!

Don’t worry about falling off the “wagon” now and then. Part of my past failures have been trying to be too strict and denying myself those favored foods. The cravings get too great, I slip then figure “F it, this is too hard” and slip back into old habits.

A couple weeks ago I had a 12 oz NY Strip steak for dinner. Didn’t have anything with it, but it alone was extremely satisfying and I didn’t need to do anything extra to “earn” it. Had a regular breakfast that day and skipped lunch so even worth a 950 calorie steak, my total calories for that day was 1850. I lost 4.6 lbs that week so all good and no guilty feelings involved.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: 911Boss,

In order to save time I began looking for a way to get some good exercise in at home during my weekend. I don’t want to take the extra hour out of each day to travel to and from my gym at work.

But I also didn’t want to drop much money on this, especially since I know I’m the type that finds it hard to self-motivate when it comes to working out at home.

What I decided to try was a “sand bag”.

I bought an XL Brute Force type (actually a FITSHIT branded) bag and put some gravel in it. I was shooting for 75lb but eyeballed it way to big and it weighed out to 125. Oh well.

So I take it for a walk by throwing it across my shoulders. Every 4-5 houses I stop and drop it, let the upper back relax a minute and do a set of 5 push-ups (on the bag), 8 back rows (with the bag), and 10 deadlifts (with the bag), then back on the shoulders, 5 squats, and start walking.

Today I went for 50 minutes, about 1.4 miles. It was killer. Average HR was only around 150 and the weight isn’t all that much for deadlift and squats (max is 520/425), but the volume is killer. It really shows how terrible my cardio is as I’m gasping for breath pretty much the whole time.

Try it out! Unless you have hills, then screw that.

quote:

Originally posted by thumperfbc:
…

What I decided to try was a “sand bag”.

I bought an XL Brute Force type (actually a FITSHIT branded) bag and put some gravel in it. I was shooting for 75lb but eyeballed it way to big and it weighed out to 125. Oh well.

So I take it for a walk by throwing it across my shoulders…

Try it out! Unless you have hills, then screw that.

Oh, HELLZ NO! one of my main motivators for this was the progressing arthritis in my knee and associated pain. Losing weight is less strain on the joint, less pain, and slows the progression of damage.

Dragging around additional weight, while certainly increasing the impact of the workout, would be counter productive to me. I do a lot of walking now, given the current weather but bicycling and elliptical are better for less stress on the knees.

As my ass develops callus’ and becomes desensitized, I will be Pelotoning more and walking less.


Sounds like a helluva workout though, to be a young fit Marine again I might have given it a shot.

I’ve been on third shift hell for 30 months. The weight has slowly been creeping back up. About 15-20 lbs of the 65 I lost before I went to nights, but I can feel it.

Next Tuesday will be my last night shift. I expect a life-change with that which will bring things back into focus, especially the rest and energy.

Feeling a little frustrated today. Just came off of a one week vacation where I worked out every day, ate really well, and drank less than I normally do.

Gained 3 pounds.

quote:

Originally posted by Ronin1069:
Feeling a little frustrated today. Just came off of a one week vacation where I worked out every day, ate really well, and drank less than I normally do.

Gained 3 pounds.

Did you lift ? It's probably all new lean muscle mass.

one of the first things i learned was that weighing yourself every day / or worrying about your weight change from day to day is not a motivator. keeping track of your waist, and / or picking a day of the week and keeping track of that weight are more productive alternatives.

Ronin, (rhetorical question) how heavy are you? And was your vacation in a hot place? Could be water weight fluctuations, 3lbs is also just 3 tall glasses of water...

There are more variables than that too, eating lots of carbs causes water retention and low carb sheds it.

I've watched my weight fluctuate as much as ten pounds of water weight lost in a workout.

Also, vacations can do squirrelly things with weight overall. I wouldn't pay it much mind. Give it another week at home and see where you're at.

quote:

Originally posted by f2:
one of the first things i learned was that weighing yourself every day / or worrying about your weight change from day to day is not a motivator. keeping track of your waist, and / or picking a day of the week and keeping track of that weight are more productive alternatives.

Ditto that!

I have an “official” weigh in every Friday morning when I wake up after using the toilet.

That said, I will usually also check Tue morning just to see where I am, but it isn’t recorded.


Depending on meals, fluid intake, exercise, and bathroom work your scale weight can fluctuate 3 lbs or more over the course of the day.

Consistently weighing at a weekly interval will be the most accurate way to see progress (or lack of).

Hoping to see this thread keep going.

As of last Friday, 11 weeks in, I’ve now lost 60 lbs. Walking less, Peloton more. I enjoy the walking, but the Peloton burns more calories in less time. Also better on my arthritic knees. Starting to work the Elliptical in occasionally as well.

Picked up a cheap bench off Amazon and doing dumbbell work for upper body. Starting to see a change, unfortunately it ain’t the most attractive. Starting to get the loose skin, but it was expected.

On the up side I am down two pants sizes, a shirt size and even two holes on my watch band.



Getting even more OCD on the numbers tracking, it helps me with the motivation and drive. Still losing 4-6 lbs a week, averaging about 1300 food calories a day and about 750 exercise calories.


When I started, my BMI was 52.4, over 50 is considered “Super Morbidly Obese” - Not what I wanted my “super” power to be. With a loss of 60 pound it is now 42.6 and I am “just” morbidly obese. Once I get below a BMI of 40, about 20 more pounds from now, I should be in the 30’s and simply “obese” without any other qualifier.

Get below 30, and I will be “overweight”. Will probably always be overweight if for no other reason than the loose skin I will carry as a reminder of letting myself go so far before doing something about it.


Hopefully other will start or continue to post in this thread - I don’t want to take it over and would like it to keep providing mutual support and info.

Will the loose skin eventually go away as your body adjusts to it's new weight?

quote:

Originally posted by marksman41:

Will the loose skin eventually go away as your body adjusts to it's new weight?

I’m on my second week of my permanent noon-10pm shift. I’ve fallen into a sleep routine I believe of 8-9 hours a night, and my stress has fallen remarkably. Eating low-carb as I have been for years, but now eating from 9am-6pm or earlier.

Been walking 2-3 miles a day, plan on weighing in two weeks to see where I am. Just had my labs done with a physical and my cholesterol sucks, but everything else is great.

Weight at the end of night shift hell = 194lbs.

Goal = 160lbs

I plan to start a couch to 5k thing after the one month mark. Trying to get my body used to walking it regularly first, and to drop a few pounds before I start that.