2012 Weight Loss Thread

Does anyone who's lost a lot of weight still have issues with how they perceive themselves after the weight loss?

In my head I'm still much bigger than I actually am, stuff like moving through a crowded bar is quite confusing, I always tend to think I need more space to move around than I actually do, like my brain still thinks I'm a lot bigger than I am now.

Also sometimes when I look in the mirror I'll see myself as huge and other times I'll think I'm quite slim.

I've lost around 8 stone in 13-14 months with another stone or so to go, hopefully my brain will catch up with the body change sooner rather than later.
 
ricky1981 said:
Good work dude! You'll find soon (perhaps already) that you start to enjoy the running more as well. I started off the same as you, unable to run more than a few hundred yards and today I ran just over 14km in one hit, could have done more by legs were telling me to stop and they're pretty sore now! I'm already looking forward to my next run on Tuesday :)
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I think we are at the enjoying it stage now tbh, either that or its just become routine ;)
 
Neutralmilk said:
I posted in this a while back but due to family things I have been unable to do much at all. I'm 28 and 5ft11" and weighing 17 stone, which is very over weight and should have done something about it a long time ago.

It's mostly down to lack of exercise and also beer to be honest. I don't really eat unhealthy but I did drink a lot at the weekends (typical Scot). I have started walking more and I'm in the process of joining a gym, I have the induction tonight.

What I'm looking to do is loose the weight at a steady pace and get back to fitness. When I was younger I was an amateur boxer for 5-6 years and was around 3 and a half stone lighter.

I'm going back to the gym three nights a week and spending the weekend going running to get my fitness back up. I'm looking to change my eating habits as well, I don't really eat junk but I'm not eating the right things.

What tips food wise and exercise wise would you recommend? My fitness at the moment is terrible as I recently quit smoking and I smoked for 6 years so it took it's tole on my general fitness as much as the weight did. I've started by giving up the booze as it's not only a waste of money but it's not helping in the slightest.
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I was pretty much exactly the same as you in Jan this year, 5,10 and 17 stone. My fitness level was pretty much non existent and my diet was pretty bad. I'm now just under 15 stone. Not startling weight loss but pretty consistent I think.

I started with some basic cardio to get my fitness up, gentle runs and spin classes essentially. Depending on how your knees are you may want to start with low impact exercise (cross trainer, spinning). I now probably do more running than spinning and am up to about 4-5 miles on the treadmill at around 9 minute miles. Really take the time to stretch properly, I generally spend 10 mind stretching before and after exercise. I'm now starting to mix this with free weights and really starting to see a difference to my body shape.

Regarding the diet I've not done anything to extreme, basically just cut out the rubbish (mid week takeaways, afternoon chocolate bars and such). I probably come in at about 1500-1800 cals per day before exercise. Apart from basic cal counting, I don't keep an eye on fat content but realise at you can only go so far before I need to concentrate on that. What I can tell you though is that I have had weeks where I have do everything less exercise but eaten better and noticed more weight loss, so the diet really is key!

Hope this helps!
 
17th week weigh in:

Last Sunday - 18st 3lb
This Sunday - 17st 13lb

4lb loss

Hit the 8st mark, over the moon with that result :D

Just need to shift another half a stone before holiday as planned!

(Total loss since September '11 - 8st)
 
Really don't get my weight loss so far,

Lost 2 pounds over the last month - (pretty bad I know) - but lost 4.5 inches on my gut, 3 inches on my waist & and added 1 inch on my biceps & chest.

I'd have expected much greater weight loss for that kind of reduction in size (44.5 inch belly to 40 and 41 inch waist to 38) - Biceps from 13.5 to 14.5 , up to 43.5 on the chest (most of my fat is on my gut).
 
Muscle weighs more than fat, if you're doing non-cardio work like weightlifting then you're probably losing fat and putting on muscle so your weight isn't dropping as quickly as you'd think. Apparently it's quite common when you first start exercising especially if you're a bit fat and not that strong (no offence, this described me too!). You should find that as you do more cardio and your body gets used to exercise that your weight drops off more, especially in conjunction with a good diet.

Don't be disheartened dude, sounds like you're doing really well and remember that what you weigh isn't as important as your fitness and how you actually look so don't get too hung up chasing numbers each week. Plenty of people on here have a great physique but their BMI would be in the high 20's.
 
ricky1981 said:
Muscle weighs more than fat, if you're doing non-cardio work like weightlifting then you're probably losing fat and putting on muscle so your weight isn't dropping as quickly as you'd think. Apparently it's quite common when you first start exercising especially if you're a bit fat and not that strong (no offence, this described me too!). You should find that as you do more cardio and your body gets used to exercise that your weight drops off more, especially in conjunction with a good diet.

Don't be disheartened dude, sounds like you're doing really well and remember that what you weigh isn't as important as your fitness and how you actually look so don't get too hung up chasing numbers each week. Plenty of people on here have a great physique but their BMI would be in the high 20's.
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Yeah cheers!.

Well it's a mixed cardio/strengh routine (lot's of pushups, squats, dumbell lunge/squats etc - (I've also done a few days of stronglifts inbetween).

I'm just shocked at how many inches you can lose without losing much weight!.
 
Week 17 Weigh in:

Starting weight beginning of January 14st 6lb
Target weight end of June 11st

Last Monday 11st 10lb
This Monday 11st 10lb

0lb loss

Really bad week this week in terms of eating, I felt down one day and managed to consume a whole packet of chocolate digestives in half a day and 4 out of 7 days I went over my calories. I've also only ran twice this week and not cycled at all mainly due to the weather.

Although I've not put weight on it's a worry that I can still binge :(

Going to total fitness this week to get myself a decent pair of running shoes and I'll up my running distance from 3 to 4 miles or at least 3.5. Definitely going to stear clear of the biscuit isle!!!
 
elmarko1234 said:
Yeah cheers!.

Well it's a mixed cardio/strengh routine (lot's of pushups, squats, dumbell lunge/squats etc - (I've also done a few days of stronglifts inbetween).

I'm just shocked at how many inches you can lose without losing much weight!.
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Start doing a 30 min run 3 times a week every other day, push yourself and only stop running when you physically feel you can't run any more and then only slow down to a brisk walk ( don't just stop). Once you've got your breath back, run again and repeat.

Over time you'll run for longer and faster and I guarantee as long as you put the effort in you'll lose the weight :)
 
pumaz said:
Week 17 Weigh in:

Starting weight beginning of January 14st 6lb
Target weight end of June 11st

Last Monday 11st 10lb
This Monday 11st 10lb

0lb loss

Really bad week this week in terms of eating, I felt down one day and managed to consume a whole packet of chocolate digestives in half a day and 4 out of 7 days I went over my calories. I've also only ran twice this week and not cycled at all mainly due to the weather.

Although I've not put weight on it's a worry that I can still binge :(

Going to total fitness this week to get myself a decent pair of running shoes and I'll up my running distance from 3 to 4 miles or at least 3.5. Definitely going to stear clear of the biscuit isle!!!
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The important thing here is to drawn a line under this week. You had a treat and now its back to normal, no harm done. It should not be a worry to be able to eat more than your diet and keep your weight the same, it is, after all, what is normal. You would be doing that if you did not wish to lose weight.

Maybe not with a full pack of digestives but hey. :D



My diet is coming to a stall with exams coming up, to much disruption to my routine. Also got drunk the last few weekends which leads to takeaway.

Have to much work on to go out now so hopefully that should help.

Currently at 15st 7lb, the lowest I've been is 15st 4lb and from july of last year I have lost 4st (was 19st 7lb).

Either way my goal is to keep losing weight steadily, I will be happy not to put weight on until I get my exams out of the way. In June I will have a full routine and diet review.
 
simoran1 said:
I was pretty much exactly the same as you in Jan this year, 5,10 and 17 stone. My fitness level was pretty much non existent and my diet was pretty bad. I'm now just under 15 stone. Not startling weight loss but pretty consistent I think.

I started with some basic cardio to get my fitness up, gentle runs and spin classes essentially. Depending on how your knees are you may want to start with low impact exercise (cross trainer, spinning). I now probably do more running than spinning and am up to about 4-5 miles on the treadmill at around 9 minute miles. Really take the time to stretch properly, I generally spend 10 mind stretching before and after exercise. I'm now starting to mix this with free weights and really starting to see a difference to my body shape.

Regarding the diet I've not done anything to extreme, basically just cut out the rubbish (mid week takeaways, afternoon chocolate bars and such). I probably come in at about 1500-1800 cals per day before exercise. Apart from basic cal counting, I don't keep an eye on fat content but realise at you can only go so far before I need to concentrate on that. What I can tell you though is that I have had weeks where I have do everything less exercise but eaten better and noticed more weight loss, so the diet really is key!

Hope this helps!
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Thanks very much for your advice and it sounds like you started off the same as myself.

I've joined the gym and been four times in the last week really enjoying it. Basically at the moment I'm using the bikes the most and doing around 12K or so in a session as well as using the hand bike things for a couple of K as well.

I'm going to try and stick to the cardio at the moment to try and shed some weight so going to take your advice and move from the bike to the treadmill soon.
 
Neutralmilk said:
Thanks very much for your advice and it sounds like you started off the same as myself.

I've joined the gym and been four times in the last week really enjoying it. Basically at the moment I'm using the bikes the most and doing around 12K or so in a session as well as using the hand bike things for a couple of K as well.

I'm going to try and stick to the cardio at the moment to try and shed some weight so going to take your advice and move from the bike to the treadmill soon.
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I would recommend trying out a exercise class, in particular spinning. Group exercise is a great motivator and can help build your cardio and stamina quite successfully at the start. A good instructor should know when to push you when you feel like giving in, making you go the extra mile. Thats something I felt quite difficult when exercising solo at the start, the group exercise really helped with that.
 
Been paying special attention to dot the i's and cross the t's with my diet over the past few weeks as well as making sure I'm exercising regularly and it's paying dividends.

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simoran1 said:
I would recommend trying out a exercise class, in particular spinning. Group exercise is a great motivator and can help build your cardio and stamina quite successfully at the start. A good instructor should know when to push you when you feel like giving in, making you go the extra mile. Thats something I felt quite difficult when exercising solo at the start, the group exercise really helped with that.
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I'm going with two mates who are a lot fitter than me so getting a lot of motivation. I don't think I would be ready for a class yet.
 
Neutralmilk said:
I'm going with two mates who are a lot fitter than me so getting a lot of motivation. I don't think I would be ready for a class yet.
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Classes are normally tailored to all levels of fitness. I can't recommend classes enough, they keep motivation and effort higher, and dare I say it, can be quite fun :)
 
Me after being in a long term 8 year relationship!
1-6.jpg



Me 4 years later Thai boxing and running, using my daughter as my inspiration to train hard
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Hopefully inspire someone :)
 
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That's good work man.


We've just spent the morning in sweatshop in Nottingham having a full gait analysis done, really worth it and we've signed up to their free 2 to 5 mile running class on a Monday. Going to do a treadmill 5k on Sunday in the new asics.

Oh and 3 more pounds lost, its at a rather "too much" 18lbs since April 2nd.
 
Hi guys, i thought i would take the time to check in to this thread. As a bit of backstory, I am a 25 year old, 5ft 10 male. My weight has had a history of ballooning between extremes. Christmas gone by, I, had a relapsed dislocated knee cap through a variety of unfortunate composite reasons - being unfit and over weight and going on icy decking to call the cat in wearing flip flops :p. Past physio and being fed up of being in daily pain, a month ago I took the decision to get my self sorted out. I started out sorted out my diet, and doing cardio every other day for about 2 weeks, just to get my heart used to pumping blood again. For the past 2 and a half weeks or so, i have started doing primarily resistance training and pumping some iron with the free weights.

My current goal is the holy grail - to lose body fat while gaining muscle mass and strength. I got myself some body composition scales to track my progress and am taking measurements every other day on my off-gym days.



Really chuffed so far. Over the past 12 days I have maintained roughly the same weight but dropped 3% body fat :)
 
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