*** Big Fat Weight Loss Thread ***

[tom_nieto]

Noom has been very helpful for me. I’m using it as a calorie logger really.

There’s not a lot of magic for the average person (like me). Reduce calories, be really honest about how much you’re eating and lose weight. I realigned my portion sizes by using kitchen scales. A real eye opener!

I’ve been logging calories properly over the last 2-3 weeks and funnily enough I’ve lost weight. I got an 88.5kg this morning which is the best for some months. Lovely BBQ this afternoon which will put me well over for the day, but once a week is ok. I reckon another 3 weeks and I’ll be stably at 88kg and perhaps even in a position to push on a bit. More swimming require for my back!

 

[RedMogg]

Hit my halfway goal - 2½ stone down since January. Combination of Mounjaro, Huel shakes (usually breakfast, but lunch too if I'm busy) and generally not eating like a Beard Meats Food challenge each meal.



First time in a long while I've looked in the mirror and not seen a fat guy...

Edit to add: Haven't increased exercise beyond what I typically burn as a wheelchair user, but about to join a gym with my son as he's shown an interest.
I have to be really careful with my joints/spine, but I'm all for getting him away from his PC screen...

 

[cee-S-dee]

Well done RedMogg. Looking great!

I'm 11St 2lbs now. Nearly at the 11 stone target. I've not been able to get to the gym as much as I'd like over the past 2 weeks because of life stuff, but I'm still sticking to my food and still not touched the alcohol. Loads of people have been commenting on how well I look now which I really quite nice

 

[Deleted member 280263]

Noom has been very helpful for me. I’m using it as a calorie logger really.

There’s not a lot of magic for the average person (like me). Reduce calories, be really honest about how much you’re eating and lose weight. I realigned my portion sizes by using kitchen scales. A real eye opener!

I’ve been logging calories properly over the last 2-3 weeks and funnily enough I’ve lost weight. I got an 88.5kg this morning which is the best for some months. Lovely BBQ this afternoon which will put me well over for the day, but once a week is ok. I reckon another 3 weeks and I’ll be stably at 88kg and perhaps even in a position to push on a bit. More swimming require for my back!

Yep, you're completely right, it is as simple as not eating as much, and especially not as much or any at all junk food.
Skipping breakfast is also an easy option to give yourself a few more calories for your 1 or 2 main meals.

I find if you treat yourself once a week, every week, you will stump the weight loss progress for the next week/month in total, though, but everyone is different, so it might be fine for some and not for the others.

I do really like the satisfaction you get from not eating junk and knowing you've not had any slip ups, then if you want to have a treat, you just make it a bigger size of something you know you can eat, well that's what I tend to do - with keto for example, once a month or something I'll just go have an all you can eat breakfast and just go mad but still keep it keto safe, then I don't get the regret afterwards that I used to get when eating junk food when on a healthy carb diet, as you know that's now messed up what you've achieved before it/next weeks progress = just burning that off and staying the same weight...

Hit my halfway goal - 2½ stone down since January. Combination of Mounjaro, Huel shakes (usually breakfast, but lunch too if I'm busy) and generally not eating like a Beard Meats Food challenge each meal.



First time in a long while I've looked in the mirror and not seen a fat guy...

Edit to add: Haven't increased exercise beyond what I typically burn as a wheelchair user, but about to join a gym with my son as he's shown an interest.
I have to be really careful with my joints/spine, but I'm all for getting him away from his PC screen...

Well done dude!
Do you have any issues with Mounjaro? I heard people on this or Ozempic (I forget which or if it's both) give you loose/saggy skin? I don't know if that's if you loose too much too fast or too much in general? It's mainly women I've seen/heard this from - so I'm not sure if it's a side effect for them and not men due to hormones or whatever, but it definitely seems common, also something about it doing something to your teeth?
Either way if it's working and you haven't got those issues then win win!

 

[RedMogg]

Well done dude!
Do you have any issues with Mounjaro? I heard people on this or Ozempic (I forget which or if it's both) give you loose/saggy skin? I don't know if that's if you loose too much too fast or too much in general? It's mainly women I've seen/heard this from - so I'm not sure if it's a side effect for them and not men due to hormones or whatever, but it definitely seems common, also something about it doing something to your teeth?
Either way if it's working and you haven't got those issues then win win!

Not noticed anything loose or wrinkly (that wasn't already!) - I've lost 6 inches off my waist and 10 inches from my belly, but the most noticeable change for me is my face; I feel less puffy and my jawline is back.

I went beast-mode with training in 2008-2009, after my 3rd spinal surgery. Was less focused on losing weight, but trying to regain the strength and mobility I'd lost after the car crash.

I was doing jiu-jitsu & Muay Thai four times a week, along with weight training.
I didn't know at the time I had a degenerative condition (or I probably would have taken it easier). Other than creatine, I wasn't using any supplements beyond a low carb, high protein diet and a Maxi-Muscle shake before training.

I hit just under 14½ stone (like now), but with a 30 inch waist and a 19 inch neck.
I ended up with stretch marks around my shoulders, biceps and knees/quads. These have all but disappeared.

I am taking collagen, turmeric, cod liver oil and glucosamine this time, but these are simple "Over 40s" supplements rather than anything hugely excessive.

I struggle to do much in the way of stretching/sit ups/cycling due to the arthritis in my knees and the pain in my spine (lower & cervical), so weight loss this time round feels slow going.

But I'm happy with the progress - Mounjaro initially felt like a cheat-code, but we'd spend £300 a month on takeaways which more than covers the added costs of the jab...

 

[Martynt74]

Guests have all left. I've been pretty decent with snacks whilst they've been here, and they brought chocolate from the UK which is (mostly) still in the cupboard.

My weight continues to bounce around, mainly due to water i'm assuming. I might try some better scales which can help track that metric and then maybe get a baseline of "actual" weight.

Cycling is building up a bit which i nice. Got 58km done yesterday which was the longest i've done in months. It's a bank holiday here tomorrow and then i've booked the rest of the week off too, so hoping to get a good amount of cycling done. The downside was i was just starting to try jogging again but had some pain in my broken toe from 3 months ago. A trip to a local podiatrist (still can't believe it's only €25 a session!) confirmed it's still not fully recovered and advised against running and any mountainous walks which is a shame.

 

[robj20]

What methods are you using guys to loose weight?
Calories restriction, 16/8, fasting, carnivores or keto?

Nothing fancy just eating a bit less and doing a bit more exercise.

 

[tom_e]

Nothing fancy just eating a bit less and doing a bit more exercise.

Same here, helps that my wife has also gotten back into the groove at the gym which means there are less snacks lying around the house (plus a toddler who will literally fight you if you try and eat snacks without surrendering them to her).

 

[blairw]

Hit my halfway goal - 2½ stone down since January. Combination of Mounjaro, Huel shakes (usually breakfast, but lunch too if I'm busy) and generally not eating like a Beard Meats Food challenge each meal.



First time in a long while I've looked in the mirror and not seen a fat guy...

Edit to add: Haven't increased exercise beyond what I typically burn as a wheelchair user, but about to join a gym with my son as he's shown an interest.
I have to be really careful with my joints/spine, but I'm all for getting him away from his PC screen...

Awesome job, what a difference in the face make - confidence usually comes along with the weight loss and it shows here!

Well done dude!
Do you have any issues with Mounjaro? I heard people on this or Ozempic (I forget which or if it's both) give you loose/saggy skin? I don't know if that's if you loose too much too fast or too much in general? It's mainly women I've seen/heard this from - so I'm not sure if it's a side effect for them and not men due to hormones or whatever, but it definitely seems common, also something about it doing something to your teeth?
Either way if it's working and you haven't got those issues then win win!

I've never really got this argument from people (not saying it's an argument you're making). Fat has stretched out your skin, not losing the fat - if you take away the fat then of course there is a risk of the skin having stretched too far to come back tightness around the lower volume you are now holding. For some extreme examples have a look at the YouTube / instagram influencer Obese2Beast - He refuses to have skin surgery (his choice) and was a massive weight before so is likely carrying well over 10KG of excess skin that he doesn't need anymore.

Generally the slower / more steady you lose weight, combined with maintaining as much muscle mass as possible - the more likely you are to not suffer from very loose / saggy skin. It also depends how your weight presented before as well, if you for example had really big noticeable man boobs from fat... the likelihood is that it's not going to firm up in that area, the best you can do is lose the fat and try and build muscle. FWIW I have lost around 33KG now and I don't have any real noticeable loose skin, I think if I got to true shredded levels then possible in a few places such as stomach line above the waistband it would show up but have a look at my photos a few pages back and you'll see that even at big losses sometimes there isn't much of an issue. I was fortunate to carry a fair bit of muscle and I have maintained that as best I can during the loss.

My advice for anyone looking to lose weight is to always try and maintain as much muscle mass as possible throughout both for health and aesthetics - the same applies to weight loss drugs, they help accelerate and can lead to weight loss that is sudden meaning skin doesn't have much of a chance to react - keep it reasonably slow by not ramping up the dose too much too soon, focus on keeping as much quality mass on your frame as possible.

 

[Deleted member 280263]

Not noticed anything loose or wrinkly (that wasn't already!) - I've lost 6 inches off my waist and 10 inches from my belly, but the most noticeable change for me is my face; I feel less puffy and my jawline is back.

I went beast-mode with training in 2008-2009, after my 3rd spinal surgery. Was less focused on losing weight, but trying to regain the strength and mobility I'd lost after the car crash.

I was doing jiu-jitsu & Muay Thai four times a week, along with weight training.
I didn't know at the time I had a degenerative condition (or I probably would have taken it easier). Other than creatine, I wasn't using any supplements beyond a low carb, high protein diet and a Maxi-Muscle shake before training.

I hit just under 14½ stone (like now), but with a 30 inch waist and a 19 inch neck.
I ended up with stretch marks around my shoulders, biceps and knees/quads. These have all but disappeared.

I am taking collagen, turmeric, cod liver oil and glucosamine this time, but these are simple "Over 40s" supplements rather than anything hugely excessive.

I struggle to do much in the way of stretching/sit ups/cycling due to the arthritis in my knees and the pain in my spine (lower & cervical), so weight loss this time round feels slow going.

But I'm happy with the progress - Mounjaro initially felt like a cheat-code, but we'd spend £300 a month on takeaways which more than covers the added costs of the jab...

Ah that's great news mate! I think as silly as it sounds, the side effects might just be a female specific issue, I'm guessing some kind of hormone related side effect or christ knows what 'woman problems' I guess ha!

Yeah that jawline is well on it's way Keep up the good work!

Ah, I'm so sorry to hear that! If you don't mind me asking, do you have the condition that Mick Mars from Motley Crue has? Or am I miles off? Apologies if so!

Who cares if it's a cheatcode, if it works it works, you could argue that women who do loads of leg/thigh presses to get 'THICCC' thighs/buns is a cheatcode as it wasn't in their genetics like those born like that and woman go mad on surgery, so I'm all for whatever works as you're not faking it with surgery!

Well chuffed for you after reading your progress, keep up the beast mode!

 

[Deleted member 280263]

I've never really got this argument from people (not saying it's an argument you're making). Fat has stretched out your skin, not losing the fat - if you take away the fat then of course there is a risk of the skin having stretched too far to come back tightness around the lower volume you are now holding. For some extreme examples have a look at the YouTube / instagram influencer Obese2Beast - He refuses to have skin surgery (his choice) and was a massive weight before so is likely carrying well over 10KG of excess skin that he doesn't need anymore.

Generally the slower / more steady you lose weight, combined with maintaining as much muscle mass as possible - the more likely you are to not suffer from very loose / saggy skin. It also depends how your weight presented before as well, if you for example had really big noticeable man boobs from fat... the likelihood is that it's not going to firm up in that area, the best you can do is lose the fat and try and build muscle. FWIW I have lost around 33KG now and I don't have any real noticeable loose skin, I think if I got to true shredded levels then possible in a few places such as stomach line above the waistband it would show up but have a look at my photos a few pages back and you'll see that even at big losses sometimes there isn't much of an issue. I was fortunate to carry a fair bit of muscle and I have maintained that as best I can during the loss.

My advice for anyone looking to lose weight is to always try and maintain as much muscle mass as possible throughout both for health and aesthetics - the same applies to weight loss drugs, they help accelerate and can lead to weight loss that is sudden meaning skin doesn't have much of a chance to react - keep it reasonably slow by not ramping up the dose too much too soon, focus on keeping as much quality mass on your frame as possible.

I apologise if it sounded negative or like an argument, it never was intended to be, infact it was the opposite, as I was myself considering going on it
I just had heard all these women moaning about really loose skin they could pull out far etc etc, and not a lot of men admit to using it, so it was to be honest a breathe of fresh air to see @RedMogg confidently sharing his experience with it!
I merely asked because I was worried 'it'll happen to me' IF it does but if it was 'that' common that everyone who uses it has it as a side effect, then it'd be easier to weigh up the pro's and con's

Regarding the rest of your reply, I've never had an issue in the past rapidly loosing weight, but maybe I'm just lucky, I did loose muscle mass too as a side effect though, that is true. But everything else left in the right places so I didn't mind and soon built back the muscle

 

[blairw]

Ah ok - well there's nothing unique to the weight loss via these medications - it just happens faster for a lot of people since they can't eat as much as before because of its effects. I'd heavily recommend focusing on weight lifting while on it - let the medication create the calorie deficit for weight loss, lift weights to spare as much muscle as possible

 

[RedMogg]

Ah that's great news mate! I think as silly as it sounds, the side effects might just be a female specific issue, I'm guessing some kind of hormone related side effect or christ knows what 'woman problems' I guess ha!

Yeah that jawline is well on it's way Keep up the good work!

Ah, I'm so sorry to hear that! If you don't mind me asking, do you have the condition that Mick Mars from Motley Crue has? Or am I miles off? Apologies if so!

Who cares if it's a cheatcode, if it works it works, you could argue that women who do loads of leg/thigh presses to get 'THICCC' thighs/buns is a cheatcode as it wasn't in their genetics like those born like that and woman go mad on surgery, so I'm all for whatever works as you're not faking it with surgery!

Well chuffed for you after reading your progress, keep up the beast mode!

Thank you for the kind words.
I'm not sure about Mick Mars - a quick Google says he has ankylosing spondylitis (AS - inflammatory arthritis of pelvis & spine).

I have degenerative disc disease (DDD) and rheumatoid arthritis, caused by the years of being infected with contaminated blood products for my Von Willebrands bleeding disorder.

I have chronic Hep-C, Hep-B (and highly probable vCJD) which has done gawd-knows what damage to my system and long-term health.

...but I'm one of the "lucky ones" - I didn't get HIV, unlike many of the haemophiliac boys I grew up with (most of whom never made it past 30).

I've been weaning off a 20 year opiate dependency since October (now 10 weeks clean) and have severely reduced the amount of prescription meds I take each day. I'm now only using the meds for my PTSD and bleeding disorder, which shouldn't negatively impact my liver health.

I have a many hundreds-percent increased chance of liver cancer in my future, so the weight loss isn't just about aesthetics, but to try and reduce the risks of my long term health outlook.

I have three amazing kids - and I want to do everything in my power to watch them become three amazing adults.

 

[RedMogg]

My weight continues to bounce around, mainly due to water i'm assuming. I might try some better scales which can help track that metric and then maybe get a baseline of "actual" weight.

I find when I consistently weigh myself first thing in the morning (literally before the morning wee), then immediately after, I get a more accurate track of my progress, including the water weight.

I drink upwards of 6 litres of water a day (meds can make me really dehydrated - particularly Mirtazipine in the current heat), so it can throw my weight-tracking all over the place, throughout the day.

 

[tom_nieto]

One can get too bogged down in “water weight” as there are quite marked fluctuations in body weight depending on hydration and salt load (amongst other things). It highlights the importance of looking at trends in weight loss rather than one off readings. Daily weights are especially important, with the same scales and at the same time. Rapid changes in weight over the course of 24 hours will be water. A trend in loss or gain over 2-3 weeks will be flesh weight.

 

[Martynt74]

Yeah. I weigh first thing after a week generally and if I forgot at that window I then write the day off rather than have an inconsistent reading affected by coffee/breakfast.

I think I mentioned but I’ve also been using an “alcohol diary” app. I always add booze to MFP and factoring it into my calories but it’s been surprising how regular I actually drink. Since I started on the 7th June I’ve only had 3 days where I’ve not had a beer which is quite terrifying. When we’ve been out (which has been quite often due to guests) I generally have a normal beer followed with NA alternatives but in my head I was always at around 3 days a week without any alcohol at all so this has been a surprise to see it on paper.

 

[tom_nieto]

@Martynt74 - No beer on a school night!! The alcohol diary is a good move. Also, why not weigh daily?

 

[Martynt74]

Haha i didnt think i did drink on a school night but sometimes I’ll finish work and grab a beer to sit by the pool without thinking. Or if i am thinking, I’m only thinking of the 130kcal and not the alcohol side which has its own impact. I do have a stash of NA beers but I try not to keep the fridge full to minimise temptation but with guests buying beer and the fridge being constantly stocked my willpower took a beating this last month!

Oh a type above. I do weigh daily. After a morning wee.
The only time I don’t is if I forget and move on with the day and then by the time I remember there’s enough things to distort the reading it’s give incorrect data.

 

[Deleted member 280263]

Ah ok - well there's nothing unique to the weight loss via these medications - it just happens faster for a lot of people since they can't eat as much as before because of its effects. I'd heavily recommend focusing on weight lifting while on it - let the medication create the calorie deficit for weight loss, lift weights to spare as much muscle as possible

Yeah that makes sense

Thank you for the kind words.
I'm not sure about Mick Mars - a quick Google says he has ankylosing spondylitis (AS - inflammatory arthritis of pelvis & spine).

I have degenerative disc disease (DDD) and rheumatoid arthritis, caused by the years of being infected with contaminated blood products for my Von Willebrands bleeding disorder.

I have chronic Hep-C, Hep-B (and highly probable vCJD) which has done gawd-knows what damage to my system and long-term health.

...but I'm one of the "lucky ones" - I didn't get HIV, unlike many of the haemophiliac boys I grew up with (most of whom never made it past 30).

I've been weaning off a 20 year opiate dependency since October (now 10 weeks clean) and have severely reduced the amount of prescription meds I take each day. I'm now only using the meds for my PTSD and bleeding disorder, which shouldn't negatively impact my liver health.

I have a many hundreds-percent increased chance of liver cancer in my future, so the weight loss isn't just about aesthetics, but to try and reduce the risks of my long term health outlook.

I have three amazing kids - and I want to do everything in my power to watch them become three amazing adults.

You're very welcome my friend!
Ah ok, on the topic of Motley Crue, I'd highly recommend the movie 'The Dirt', I personally loved it, and the choice of actors was spot on, I really liked Mick Mars, and I didn't know much about him until watching it, so I really felt for him, as I obviously didn't know anything about his condition.

Ah damn man, I'm so sorry to hear this. It never seems to happen to bad people either does it, I love how positive you are and you clearly don't let it stop you, nor make you bitter - that takes a hell of a strong, kind person, to see through being delt a bad hand like that.

FWIW I was diagnosed with PTSD, so I feel you on that, I cold turkey mine, but it's far from ideal, and I am tempted to try meds again, but nothing ever seems to work, and if it did, I don't know if I like the idea of being 'controlled/not me' - I'm probably thinking too much into it though

If you're kids grow up with your positivity, politeness, which they clearly will if they haven't already, then you've already got that in the back mate

I find when I consistently weigh myself first thing in the morning (literally before the morning wee), then immediately after, I get a more accurate track of my progress, including the water weight.

I drink upwards of 6 litres of water a day (meds can make me really dehydrated - particularly Mirtazipine in the current heat), so it can throw my weight-tracking all over the place, throughout the day.

Haha I do this but after the wee I even go without a drink until I've wee'ed and weighed If I do any excercise before the weigh in I also wont have a drink either, I doubt it would make much difference but I like to be OCD about it, ha!

I also drink stupid amounts of water, but just because I seem to have a major addiction to ice cold water, I rotate a 2L bottle in the fridge and have 2 1L bottles, I just really like that first gulp in the morning when it takes your throat out and you get a mild brain freeze as soon as the water gets warmer though it bores me so I have to go get more cold/icey water

 

[Matty8787]

Couple of years back I did really well in terms of weight loss and got down to close to my ideal weight.

Fast forward to now and I have put some, not all of it back on but I am struggling big time with motivation, I just can't be arsed.

I really need to cut out the crap I eat and find something in me that pushes me to do something, at least some cardio.