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Battle of the Bulge

Ditch the Creatine. Unless you're performing intense athletic endeavors and are under the age of 35, it's doing more harm than good. Your muscles must synthesize Creatine quickly or it aggregates in the bloodstream and leads to cardiovascular issues. It's not worth it.

Bottom line, if your BMI is north of 35%, simply stick to a regimented diet and exercise at a light level only. Diet is 90%+ of any successful weight loss program, and combining a new diet with new exercise routines often ends in failure.

Not to sound like a broken record, but it's just math, folks. A pound of fat is 3500 calories. To lose a pound a week (fat, not water), your caloric intake must be 3500 less than what you expend. A 250 lb man needs roughly 2500 calories a day to maintain weight. Build a 2000 calorie daily diet, stick to that diet, and you will lose 1 pound of fat per week, guaranteed.

Don't worry about exercise; it frequently does more harm than good (extracts fuel from muscles, not fat), and often provides an incentive to cheat. If you still think of pizza, cake, and booze as a "reward", then all the best laid plans will go to waste. The "reward" is fat loss, and it's a mantra that must be obeyed.

The math behind losing weight is simple; performing the math is difficult. Reversing years of bad habits isn't easy, and it requires tremendous discipline. So you gotta ask yourself: do you have what it takes?
 
Ditch the Creatine. Unless you're performing intense athletic endeavors and are under the age of 35, it's doing more harm than good. Your muscles must synthesize Creatine quickly or it aggregates in the bloodstream and leads to cardiovascular issues. It's not worth it.

Bottom line, if your BMI is north of 35%, simply stick to a regimented diet and exercise at a light level only. Diet is 90%+ of any successful weight loss program, and combining a new diet with new exercise routines often ends in failure.

Not to sound like a broken record, but it's just math, folks. A pound of fat is 3500 calories. To lose a pound a week (fat, not water), your caloric intake must be 3500 less than what you expend. A 250 lb man needs roughly 2500 calories a day to maintain weight. Build a 2000 calorie daily diet, stick to that diet, and you will lose 1 pound of fat per week, guaranteed.

Don't worry about exercise; it frequently does more harm than good (extracts fuel from muscles, not fat), and often provides an incentive to cheat. If you still think of pizza, cake, and booze as a "reward", then all the best laid plans will go to waste. The "reward" is fat loss, and it's a mantra that must be obeyed.

The math behind losing weight is simple; performing the math is difficult. Reversing years of bad habits isn't easy, and it requires tremendous discipline. So you gotta ask yourself: do you have what it takes?

I like your advice. Lots of reality in the caloric intake math. I know life style changes are imperative. Modifying eating habits and walking will get a load off Bob's feet and mine too. I'm certain of it.
 
FAT MAN WALKING

2/6/2017 - 284 lbs
2/26/2017 - 275 lbs
3/3/2017 - 270 lbs
3/7/2017 - 265 lbs
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Wow! I had no idea weight could come off that quickly. Congratulations and continue taking care of yourself.
 
Gotta keep a sense of humor, right? :mrgreen:
 

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Update

This is what I have been doing lately. I was stuck for a while, but the concept of the 5:2 (fast diet) interested me. So, I purchased and read the latest version of the book by Dr. Michael Mosley and Mimi Spencer. The authors admit that the research is still ongoing but the research to date and methodologies employed made sense to me. Therefore I incorporated this eating style with my already reduced calorie diet. I limit my calories to 600 on Monday and Thursday and less than 1,700 calories for all other days. I use an app called "MyFitnessPal" to track my calorie intake. Everything I put in my mouth gets entered into this app. I gotta tell you this is a big pain in the rear. Currently I view this app as a tool to train me in the caloric and nutritional value of foods. It is my goal to be able to discontinue this activity except when I need to look up a specific food.

I purchased a Fitbit to track my steps and heart rate. I walk 5 miles everyday. Admittedly, my walking pace was leisure but I am trying to improve on that. I am working to increase this to a brisk walk. I want to increase my pace so that I can raise my heat rate for a better cardo workout and also so that I can achieve my goal of 5 miles in a quicker time. Getting in my 5 miles is currently a long, time consuming process. I have two things working against me. One is that I'm just not in very good shape and it really tires me out forcing me to have to take long rests. Secondly, I like to take my dog (Hunter) walking with me but he seems to feel the need to sniff and pee on EVERYTHING making forward progress difficult. I am working on these two factors and I'll let you know how that works out.

My exercise so far has been limited to walking. I had been reluctant to do any resistance or strenuous exercise until I discussed it with my cardiologist. Well today she said that I should easily be able to work at a heart rate of 120-125. So, my goal is to incorporate some muscle building exercises to make sure that my weight loss comes from body fat and not muscle.

I am pleased with my progress of late. It is showing in the scales. But I have yet to see any reduction in my waist/pant size, but my wife tells me that she can see a marked improvement in the size of my gut and the blubber that hung over the belt line and that my clothes appear to be a better fit. Not to say that I don't still have blubber hanging over the belt line, but just not as much.

My blood pressure is an issue but seems to be controlled with medication. I have recently learned that BP is more an issue of the health of your arterial system than your heart. Heart rate, however, is an indicator of the efficiency of your heart. My resting heart rate currently averages around 57 which is good. The doc says this is a result of my walking program. The doc says that as long as my blood pressure can be controlled by medication, not to worry about it and continue cardo workouts to keep my resting heart rate low else I will need to start taking a medication called beta blocker. She said it was unusual for someone that just had a heart attack and stints not to be taking beta blockers but my heart rates does not show the need. Despite having had a heart attack, doc says my heart is now healthy and that makes me smile.

My goals going forth are to be able to continue losing weight but to accomplish this in a less time consuming manner. Such as faster pace, higher intensity workouts, etc. Understand that I am committed to doing what ever is necessary to lose weight and improve my health. I am concerned about the my ability to continue this method on a long term basis. Currently, I am totally consumed with this activity. Every day is consumed with walking and hiking. When I am not walking, I am entering data into the app to track my calories. When I'm not doing that, I'm laying down with my feet up because my feet ache from all the walking. I have little time for any fun activities and I don't have time to go riding, etc. fortunately, I am retired, so I have the time to devote to this task. I think this would be a very difficult task if I had to work at a job. Like I said, I will do what ever is necessary in pursuit of physical health, but I need to find ways to accomplish this and have play time for my mental health.
 
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Way to go Bob - great report! I used My Fitness Pal for three years. Eventually most of my foods were saved. It was a good training tool. I revisited the app in January to get back on track, but have yet to reload it to my new phone. It was useful in learning portion control and making better choices. You can get grilled chicken nearly anyplace you can get a burger. Heck, WhataBurger has a great two-breast grilled chicken salad. Eaten with salsa (no dairy, thus the extra protein of the two breast) you can fuel yourself quite nicely. Subway's double chicken chopped salad w/red vinegar is another. Try to traverse TX and not find a WB or Subway in a town? There are others too. Once I found a few places to get something quickly in a pinch, my food anxiety was put in check. FOOD is FUEL. (Unless I'm camping in your back yard :) )

I played with the 5:2 (after the praise in this thread) and found myself stuffing hard-boiled egg-whites into myself at 2AM. My activity levels are too high I guess. I still cycle 120+ miles per, and do 2 trips to the weight room each week. However, I rarely eat anything after 8PM, and often don't have breakfast until 8:30. I guess eating lunch at 2PM and trying to go 16 hours was just a little more than my body liked.

Just keep it up. I can't wait to see the progress next time I visit.
 
I found the trick to 5:2 wasn't how much (in calories), but what on fast days. By staying away from all animal products and some fruits I could stuff myself silly. One of the guys in the Houston BMW club stuck with mixed green salad diet on those days and admitted having trouble hitting his maximum calories. The other trick was to be strict about observing the same days as fast days each week. I often found myself having to do two fast days in a row due to some business lunch or something like that.
 
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Way to go, Bob! It's inspiring. :clap:
I do 5:2 for as much for the potential hormonal triggers/immuno benefits as I do the calorie reduction. My understanding is one of the key components is the actual length of time you go without food, allowing the pancreas, etc. to "rest" and "reboot".
 
Update

...I have two things working against me. One is that I'm just not in very good shape and it really tires me out forcing me to have to take long rests. Secondly, I like to take my dog (Hunter) walking with me but he seems to feel the need to sniff and pee on EVERYTHING making forward progress difficult. I am working on these two factors and I'll let you know how that works out. ...

Your new exercise bike. Hunter might like it. Not sure how to convert pedal power to steps walked though.

an-electric-sidecar-bicycle-how-cool-is-that-photo-gallery-80032-7.jpg
 
FAT MAN (still) WALKING

2/6/2017 - 284 lbs
2/26/2017 - 275 lbs
3/3/2017 - 270 lbs
3/7/2017 - 265 lbs
3/17/2017 - 260 lbs

(hey, look! my shirt is too big for me)
8cda82dc007f6f7b49d573a2ced1695e.jpg



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That's about 4 lbs a week you've dropped. Very impressive. You're going to look like the guy in the mural pretty soon. Great job!
 
Wow, Bob, just wow!!! :clap:

You're an inspiration; amazing progress!

Fat Man Walking

2/6/2017 - 284 lbs
2/26/2017 - 275 lbs
3/3/2016 - 270 lbs
3d95e45357f8851ada1b40f3ba12cdd5.jpg



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FAT MAN (still) WALKING

2/6/2017 - 284 lbs
2/26/2017 - 275 lbs
3/3/2017 - 270 lbs
3/7/2017 - 265 lbs
3/17/2017 - 260 lbs

(hey, look! my shirt is too big for me)
8cda82dc007f6f7b49d573a2ced1695e.jpg
 
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Jan 1, 2017 233#
Yesterday's weigh-in 221.5#, after my fasting night Thursday

Breakfast today. Homemade sweet potato hash browns, shaved ham, diced onios and 2 farm-fresh eggs, 1 slice whole wheat toast. Calories. ~550 Should have left off the toast.
Homemade sweet potato hash browns - no stick pan, 1 tsp butter, heat pan to med, grate 1/2 large sweet potato, "fry" until desired crispiness, flip/turn often after first 5 min. I like to dust mine with chili powder halfway thru.
 
fat cat walking.jpg
Fat cat walking.

3/1/17 - 16 lbs
3/7/17 - 15 lbs
3/14/17- 14 lbs
3/21/17 - 13 lbs
 
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The dog actually appears to be height/weight (length?/weight) appropriate to my untrained eye. Probably all the walking has built some muscle in him which accounts for the slight weight increase.


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Update: I've done the easy 20 lbs, now the going gets tough. Seem to be stuck at 260. I get a pound or two under, then I go back to 260. I'm at war with by body. My body does not want to go beyond 260, but my mind wants under 200.

I'm rooting for the mind. This is near where I got stuck my last time. I WILL succeed, I just will have to step up my game to beat this.

I'm still walking at least 5 miles everyday and actually enjoy that activity

I'm still doing the 5:2 diet and getting used to that and it's not as hard to do.

I bought my some 10 lb dumbbells and doing strength building exercises every morning. My exercises include dumbbell exercises, gut crunches, girl push-ups, etc. the go is to do this for 20 minutes everyday. Right now it takes my about an hour to get 20 minutes of good exercise in, but I'm working on that. Boy! Several years of sedentary living not only makes one fat, but also weak.

No "Fat Man Waking" post this week. Perhaps next week. There WILL be several more fat man walking posts. They may be slow in coming, but they WILL come.
 
The initial weight loss was primarily water. As noted earlier, a pound of fat is 3500 calories, which requires roughly a 3500 caloric deficit to achieve 1 lb of fat loss. Water has 0 calories, and your body can quickly shed that material.

An aggressive weight loss program would result in losing a pound of fat per week. Any weight loss over that amount is mainly water, perhaps offset by gains in muscle mass (which takes much longer to achieve when existing in a caloric deficit).

Focus on ingesting nutrient-rich calories, and completely remove empty calories. The weight loss will continue, albeit at a slower pace. Aiming for more than 1 fat pound per week could have detrimental effects, but if you remain at 260 lbs through April, then a re-evaluation is in order.


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