Weight Loss progression/life transformation. I'm DONE. - Comment
Weight Loss progression/life transformation. I'm DONE. |
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Dominiguez Canyon, Colorado. This was the accomplishment of my first fitness goal- to hike at least ten miles in a day. I did 37 in two days. My weight loss journey. 135 lbs, 15 months, and I am DONE. Time to get new goals. Get jacked! Many of you have already seen this post, well most of it. Some of you a few times. Sorry. Here's the deal. When I posted this originally, over half a year ago, it was an accident that it was posted public. I was new to Imgur and I posted this thread for a Reddit sub. By the time I figured out what was going on, I was on the front page, or pretty close. I was initially terrified, but I received so much great, motivational, and uplifting feedback from the community that I was in turn motivated. Every few months I updated this thread. Now, I am done, though, and even though I did it on my own, the Imgur community actually played a part in helping me succeed. It was hard making lifestyle changes and it was harder because for most of my journey I didn't tell anyone what I was doing. The Imgur community did what it does best- procrastinate at work, and I am so thankful for the support from random strangers. Thanks Imgur, seriously. EDIT: Whoa, whoa, whoa! I have been traveling all day and my phone has been going nuts! FRONT PAGE? NO WAY! That is so awesome. I have about ten trillion messages to respond to and about half of them are about my music and the bass-jo, so I'm linking some pictures here: http://imgur.com/a/di8Fs I can't link a video (can I?) of me playing it. But this Saturday is my golden birthday party in Colorado Springs at a restaurant. I rented out the whole building with dance floor and stage and I'll be playing all night with musicians from all over the state. Come hear it there! Sorry, that is the best I can do! Supposedly I'm supposed to scream out something along the lines of "SEND NUDES" since I made front page (thank you guys for that, by the way), but I'm a Southern Gentleman. I'm not a crude. I do have a weakness for red-heads, though. Again, thank you for being such an awesome and supportive community. You guys helped me more than you can know. F.A.Q. at the end for the stuff you NEED to know. Wow, I cannot believe how many views this got. I originally posted it for r/loseit on reddit. I have been absolutely flooded with PMs with queries, people wanting my story, people needing advice, sharing to me their story, needing motivation, etc etc. Since this post has gotten so much attention I just thought that I would give everyone the details right here where they can see what I did. Also, please do not hesitate to PM if you want help with your own weight loss or just want to share something with me. I am very passionate about my own journey and I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE helping people out with their own journey. How did I lose all this weight? Well, I think the first step is to get the right motivation. I was big my whole life. In 6th grade I weighed 200 lbs. You better believe that I tried EVERYTHING to lose weight. Shakes, programs, stupid exercise and diet fads, advice from holistic doctors, advice from accredited doctors, b12 shots.... everything. I just didn't really want to do what I needed to do to lose the weight. Sure, I THOUGHT I did, and I did half-assed try a few times, but I didn't really look into the reasons why I personally wanted to lose weight (getting laid vs having a healthy and fulfilling life) and why I was overweight to begin with (over indulgence, primarily). I was hiking along the Kalala'u trail in Hawaii a year and some change ago when I realized the trail was kicking my ass. I had been thinking my weight was getting out of control for a while. Here I am at 315 lbs hiking a challenging trail and I was losing. I was miserable and I have loved to hike my whole life. People were blazing by me. What should have taken a half day to complete took me two days. I had enough of it. I completed my trail, went home, and started to learn why I was overweight and what I needed to do to get into shape once and for all. I'll get to that part in a minute, but the point I'm trying to make here is that I got my motivation. I actually REALLY wanted to lose weight because I felt and saw my life slipping away. I can still remember telling myself,"Skyler, if you had started losing weight six months ago, you'd be halfway there by now". I remember the day I woke up and it was like a little light switch had flipped in my head. I got out of bed and started changing my life. Ok, ok, blah blah blah, that's great... but how did you DO it? You're gonna hate me, but it the same thing you've heard your whole life. Eat less, move more. I mentioned that I had looked into the science of losing weight and weight in general. Your body is a machine that needs fuel. The food you eat is the fuel. However, if you eat more than your body requires, it will save this extra fuel as fat, which is basically a battery. I was charging my batteries my whole life. I looked up the calories of what a 315 lb 5'11" male would have to consume to just maintain that weight at my activity level. Pretty damn close to 3000 calories a day. I laughed at this. No way. It's not possible I'm eating that much.... but I am a firm believer in science. I decided to confront my disbelief with hard facts. I knew I'd be right after all. I kept a little journal and for the next week I just jotted down what I ate. At the end of the week I averaged out the calories and.... well, science won. I was eating about 3100 calories a day. I was dumbfounded. I almost quit right then. But I didn't. I went out and purchased a food scale. I got the app "My Fitness Pal" and started logging my food. I cut my calories to 2000 a day and the weight literally fell off of me. 10 lbs a month steady for 13.5 months. I still drank beer and whiskey, I still had cheeseburgers (mmmmm cheeseburgers), I still ate candy, I still went out and did things with people. The trick is moderation. I slowly started teaching myself to cook so I could better control what I was eating. I found out that 4oz of ground beef and ground sirloin can differ calorie wise by hundreds of calories. I found out that you really only need a half tablespoon of olive oil for most stir fry recipes, and I found out that peanut butter has enough energy to fuel China for a week. I started making healthier decisions, mostly because I wanted to eat more. I could eat over a lb of veggies and a big fillet of salmon and a ginger beer for 600 calories, or just two dollar Mc Donald's. Which is more filling? I slowly developed a love for cooking and in the meanwhile.... the weight kept coming off. After a few months and 50 lbs gone, I decided to hit the gym. I lifted weights and used the cardio machines. It was SO hard. I almost gave up many times. I got ugly looks (look at this guy wanting to get fit in January, just another New Years resolution chump). But it got easier, and easier, and easier.... I started making friends. Little baby muscles started to pop up. I was actually starting to LIKE my new routine. I decided it was time for some goals. I love backpacking and hiking. It's always been my favorite thing to do. In the past a 3-7 mile trip was an overnighter for me. I decided I wanted to do 20 twenty mile trip and take about three days to do it. That was a reasonable goal. By the end of the summer I wanted to summit my first Colorado 14er which is Colorado slang for a mountain who's summit is at least 14,000 feet above sea level. The results? I ended up doing two 17.5 mile days consecutively totaling 31 miles in two days. I climbed Uncompaghre Mountain here in Colorado... with my upright bass. I SLAUGHTERED my goals. Guys, I can't express to you what kind of high I was riding at this point. It just got easier and better. I was making healthy decisions and it was because I wanted to. I felt better, I was slaying my weight loss, I was getting buff, I was getting more confident. It is the best feeling in the world. Now it's been a year. I have lost the weight I sought out to do. I'm not worried about gaining it back, though, because the biggest tip to the whole weight loss thing is that I made long-term life choices. I didn't cut anything out of my life that I was already enjoying, and I learned moderation. I didn't do some stupid fad diet because, lets be real, if you eat nothing but wheat grass for six months, you WILL lose weight, but will you eat wheat grass for the rest of your life? Hell no! Do you want to enjoy a juicy burger at your friend's 4th of July party? Or if you're a vegetarian.... whatever it is you would eat in that situation? YES! So why would you want to strike that from your life forever? Being healthy is not a lifestyle equivalent to joining a monastery on a mountain top somewhere and dedicating your life to celibacy. Being healthy is a CHOICE and if you make the choice to be healthy and pursue life with a passion.... it will open so many doors- many of which you didn't know were there. Don't buy into the hype that I'm eating a spoonful of rice with a lemon every day. I'm not. I had bacon, egg, and cheese with spinach burritos this morning with a side of sauteed mushrooms, garlic, and onions with a pancake. I don't suffer in my life. I make life my bitch (and I love it). Rant over. F.A.Q. (cuz why the FAQ not?) Q. Ok, what do I NEED to lose weight? A. A food scale, a journal or app (My Fitness Pal is what I use), support and discipline. The food scale is to weigh your food. The journal or app is to take the weight of your food and give you a calorie amount. The "D" word is scary, but don't let it scare you. You can eat whatever you want. You may be over your goal in the beginning, that is OK. If you hit your target goal even 51% of the time, you'll lose weight. I've had more bad days than I would like to remember, yet here I am. Don't beat yourself up over a doughnut, just realize that if you eat it you need to own up to your decision. I love doughnuts. They are so good. The support is huge. r/loseit and r/fatlogic have helped me tremendously. It's funny, witty, and smart to educate yourself on what works for you and how it works to begin with. Also, if you want more motivation, you can find me on "My Fitness Pal" under my username "Skillet007". Send me a request. Every day I spend minutes to a couple of hours to get people started on the right track, help them with dilemmas, motivate them, or just listen to them. I'm cool with that. I want to help. Hit me up. Q. I want to lose weight but its going to take a long time. Is there a faster way to do it? A. Sorry, there really isn't but I have some advice for you. Think about it like this: it took years and years and years for me to gain my weight. It took one year and a month for it to come off. Is that really such a bad trade off? I mean, what if it took the same amount of time for the weight to come off as it did to come on? Also, that year is GONE. Where did it go? Yes, there were moments I was chomping at the bit for it to be gone, but here I am, a year later, happy and healthy. Do you know how many times I half-tried to lose weight and then gave up only to reflect on that decision six months later? It's a terrible feeling, but now I think,"Man, I stuck with my decision and I feel much better". Q. I would lose weight but everyone knows it will come right back on. A. Sorry, that is false. Sure, it'll come back on if you let it. If you slip into old habits of eating too much. But you are right that a LOT of people gain the weight back. Lets take a peep into why this happens. Lets say you lost a lot of weight on a Hollywood diet. It worked! But man did that diet SUCK. Well, now your off the diet and your back to eating the way you were before.... what happens next? You know. The difference for me is that I didn't go on a diet, I just CHANGED my diet and lifestyle. By doing that there is no way I can go back to being the old me. I eat intuitively, I learned how much to eat portion wise. I educated myself about food and exercise. I'm not going to go back to my old habits because I changed my habits. Q. I don't think I can do it on my own. Can you help me? A. Yes, I can. Ultimately it is your own actions that will take the weight off (and the laws of thermodynamics), but I have and do help several people every day. If you get the app "My Fitness Pal" find me under my username "Skillet007". That is also my username on reddit. You can also message me here but I may be slower. Also, look for inspiration closer to home. Maybe you know someone in your personal life that has lost a lot of weight and kept it off. Reach out to them. They WILL help you. Q. Should I just get surgery? A. I am against surgery as a first resort. I would consider surgery only after you have tried managing your intake. If you don't change your habits then the surgery will not help you. You'll lose 50, 100, 50000 lbs, whatever, but it will start creeping back. There are also many complications with the surgery that can haunt you for years down the road. Give yourself the benefit of the doubt and just go ahead and give CICO a shot. You'll be happy you did. Now, with that being said, there are people that are in situations that surgery is the best option, but with that being said... LIFESTYLE CHOICES ARE MANDATORY for long term weight loss. Q. Hey, you said CICO, wtf is that? A. That is where all of the science comes in. CICO stands for Calories In vs Calories Out. If you want to lose two lbs a week and you're eating 2700 calories a day, then knocking off 500 calories a day will get you to that goal. Remember, your body is a machine and food (calories) is fuel. If you over fuel yourself you are "charging" your body by storing excess fuel as fat. If you knock that 500 calories out of your fuel budget, you will be eating 2200 calories a day. This makes your body pull from it's battery, the fat, to make up for the deficit. That's all it is folks, just eating less. The moving more isn't even mandatory, but it helps because you burn more energy and your body needs to borrow from its fat "battery" stores. Q. How do I know how many calories I need to eat if I want to lose X lbs? A. Just google up calorie calculators, plug in your info, and you'll have it! It is that simple! Apps like "My Fitness Pal" have a great system that manages your budget for you and you can even add people like me to help you out (Skillet007 on MFP). Give it a shot. Q. I can't exercise. So therefore I cannot lose weight. A. Unfortunately this isn't true. I lost almost 60 lbs before I ever started to exercise. Here's the deal. You know that energy analogy I was making earlier? It applies to this situation as well. If you fully charge your cell phone but don't use it and just leave it on a table for a few days, it will eventually die, right? If you use it hours on end it wont last a day before it dies, right? Well, even if you are sedentary AF, you are still burning energy. Your heart is beating, you are breathing, metabolic processes are still occurring. Sure, you're on standby mode but if you eat less you will lose weight. I love going out and climbing mountains, though because I can eat more and not gain. Also, once you start losing some weight, you might even start to like exercise. Just quit making excuses and start doing it. The rest will fall into place. Alright guys, this was a lot longer than I expected but I hope it has some pertinent information for you all out there that want to lose weight. Again, like I have said a hundred times on this post... if you want to reach out for a private one-on-one, let me know. PM me here on Imgur. Find me on My Fitness Pal or Reddit under Skillet007. There are also great subs on reddit like r/loseit and r/fatlogic that will help you tremendously. Seriously, I will take the time out of my day to make sure you have gotten what you need to start your own journey. Guys, its tough, but going to college was a LOT harder. In fact, I haven't finished yet. After a while, though, it becomes your life and you don't even think about it. If you've been feeling down and out and want an ear, send me a message. I know what it's like. Been there my whole life. Hopefully this post will give you that little spark to make a change. It's up to you but I promise, I PROMISE from the bottom of my heart (I am so passionate about this right now), you CAN do it. Good luck and thank you all so much for the kind words and support. |
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| Posted by : peter88 | Post date : 2017-09-08 23:04 | ||
| Category : Charming & Cool | Views : 758 | ||
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