Introduction
This is my first progress post on this subreddit, I’ve made an effort to keep section and subsection focused and easy to read so hopefully it is quick to navigate.
So why now? There have been significant milestones before now, why does this one deserve a post? I think it is because it marks the one year anniversary from when I decided to take my weight loss efforts more seriously. To me this is important because I feel like I have already won and now my success is just a matter of my body catching up to my current mental outlook. I am a different person now.
November 27 marked a couple changes for me. I began tracking my daily activity using an Apple Watch and pushing myself to close the rings every day. I also began weighing myself daily and being more honest with myself about the effort I was putting forth and the consistency of my calorie counts and effort at the gym. It’s been quite a year and it’s a good time to reflect and my hope is that the words I’ve written here will help one of you think about things a little differently or maybe even get started on your own progress. So let’s get started.
Statistics
Age: 31
Sex: Male
Height: 6’3
Highest Weight: Over 550 lbs
Weight as of November 27, 2017: 503.6 lbs
Weight as of November 27, 2018: 284.2 lbs
Album of Progress
https://imgur.com/ccJTRAr
Happy Scale is a fantastic app for tracking weight on iOS. If you have Android the equivalent is Libra. Very useful for seeing an overall trend despite minor fluctuations.
https://imgur.com/a/pKs7DQ1
The first pic is from November 1, 2017, weight was over 500 lbs
The second is from November 27, 2018, weight of 284.4 lbs
https://imgur.com/a/zfPBRSA
The first pic is from December 1, 2017, weight of 497.1 lbs
The second is from November 27, 2018, weight of 284.4 lbs
My Approach
The big question for many will be how did I get these results. I will say that these are my current habits and I do not attest that they are flawless nor would they likely even be effective for you dear reader unless you found yourself in a similar situation to me. That being said though perhaps you will find something you can use in your own efforts or even just a new way of approaching things. The real focus is finding what habits you can build and maintain in perpetuity. This was not what I did throughout the entire year but rather where I am at now.
Diet
The most crucial aspect of losing weight is counting/managing your calories. To that end I consume 2400 calories every day with macronutrient targets of 220g protein, 80g fat and 200g carbohydrates. These numbers were calculated for me by a personal trainer and I have found them to be very sustainable. I make the priority to get enough protein using sources like egg whites, chicken breast, protein powders/bars. I also elect for breads/pasta with more protein as well as Greek yogurt all to hit that requirement as my first priority. Once that is done I use nuts or peanut butter to get enough fat and then fill the rest of my calories with carbs like fruit and veggies or even a bit of candy or something. The nice thing about this approach is that it is flexible, I can make pretty much any food work I just have to work all my meals around it. It becomes almost like a mini game of Tetris. I don’t meal plan per se, but rather pre-log my days in MyFitnessPal so that if I want something specific I can have it, hit my macros, and not be stuck with 50 calories for dinner or something.
Exercise
My current gym routine is to go 5 days a week, Monday to Friday on an alternating 3/2 split of chest, shoulders, arms for the 3, and the then back and legs for the 2. I also do 30 minutes of cardio each day.
As mentioned in the introduction I have made an effort to be active every day enough to fulfill my Watch rings. For me this means a lot of walking (usually between 15 and 20k steps) as well as swimming on the days when it is too rainy out.
Supplements
I take 6 supplemental products that I am mostly helpful with. I fully admit that some of these might not be necessary or maybe just giving me a placebo effect but I’ve been happy enough with my progress I don’t see much reason to mess with the formula too much. Anyway here we go:
Multivitamin: Useful to ensure I’m not deficient in any nutrient
Fish Oil: Good for your heart I guess? Idk, this is the one I feel like I understand the least lol
BCAA capsules: Supposedly helps with burning fat and building muscle, taken before and after working out
Whey protein: Taken as a protein infusion after a gym session
Casein protein: Taken at night to help with recovery, I also find that it helps keep my stomach occupied and cuts down on hunger.
Collagen peptides: Good for skin and joints supposedly, I split this dose over my whey and casein. Useful for a bit of extra protein as well.
Advice I Would Give Anyone Wanting to Start
I know some of you reading this are thinking about starting on your own journey. I was once like you, browsing this subreddit looking for an answer to a seemingly impossible problem. Here’s my advice specifically for you:
It Might Not Be As Hard as You Think
In fact, when you start out it is the hardest it will ever be. I honestly do not feel like I have to sacrifice all that much to get the results I want. I still enjoy junk food, I am just mindful of how much I have a day and I know that I make progress as long as I keep that in check. This will depend greatly on your personal stats but you can make a lot of your favourite foods and lifestyle work in such a way that you still make progress.
Start Now, Start Small
We are almost in December, I know the temptation is to push this back as a New Year’s resolution. Don’t do this. This is a month of progress you are delaying. Perhaps more importantly, it’s a month of experience. A month of figuring out what works for you and what doesn’t. It also becomes incredibly easy to give yourself ‘one last hurrah’ for eating what you want before you start for real. This is a lie you tell yourself. The truth is there is no difference between eating all those calories today or on January 2nd. You are accountable for all of them regardless. Any change you make that you can keep up permanently is an improvement you will be rewarded for in time. It can be as small as starting to track (seriously the most important thing), or switching to diet pop or trying to exercise one day a week. Do not try to change your entire life overnight. That will be overwhelming. Start small and ramp up little by little, change by change.
Failure is an Opportunity to Improve
There are times you will fail. That is normal, that is expected. Despite my success I fail all the time. What I try to do though is learn from each failure. Look at why it happened, how bad it really was, and how to avoid it or minimize the damage for next time. Failure is temporary, you can only mess up so much in a day. The lessons you learn from that failure though could potentially stick with you for years. Framed like this any individual failure has immense potential for your overall success. Treat it as such.
Advice I would Give to Anyone in the Process
Then there’s the rest of us. Those of us somewhere between the start and the end. Hopefully something here helps you:
Surround Yourself With Comrades
I find it very helpful to be involved with communities that focus on weight loss. I’ve met some absolutely wonderful people this way and it truly gives a sense of shared resolve against a burden that you might otherwise feel is insurmountable. This is especially helpful if you don’t know anyone in other ways who is trying to lose weight as a priority. It is so rewarding to see their progress alongside your own. This subreddit is a bit like that already but still feels a little anonymous to me. Personally, I use the r/loseit challenges (shoutout to Team Boo 👻) as well as various discord servers like Weight Loss Warriors, Lose It support group, and supermorbidlyobese. All of these communities have great people and you can learn a lot from them. I encourage you to join some of them, join the next challenge in the new year or find your own take on surrounding yourself with people who know what you’re going through.
Time Makes it Easier
There are days that are a struggle. Other days are an outright failure. Though it seems difficult at the time you are strong enough to make it through the temptation, to persevere through the workout you really don’t want to do and then you are a step closer to your goals and that struggle is forgotten about. A year isn’t really thatttt long when you start to reflect on it. The best, most fun way I’ve found to visualize this is through Marvel movies. I love them, I see practically all of them opening day/weekend and they come out so quickly that I see significant progress between them. Let’s just run through it quickly:
Thor Ragnarok, November 3, 2017: over 500 lbs
Black Panther, February 16, 2018: 453.0 lbs
Avengers: Infinity War, April 27, 2018: 401.8 lbs
Ant-Man and the Wasp, July 6, 2018: 359.4 lbs
Venom, October 5, 2018: 311.8 lbs (cheating a bit with this one because I didn’t see it and it’s not a true MCU movie but it fits my pattern so I keep it lol)
I remember going to see all those movies and having a great time, I don’t remember which ones I had popcorn for, what days between them I struggled etc. These all feel like movies that JUST came out and yet, here I am, a totally different person in both body and mindset. I’m so excited for Captain Marvel, Avengers 4 and Spider-man: Far From Home. They’ll be here before we know it and I will be even closer to my ultimate goal when they hit. Will you?
Make Yourself the Priority
One thing I find people saying constantly is how they are limited from doing what they think is best for them by others. They will not go to the gym because they feel watched or they will not go out with friends or compromise on their diet due to influence from coworkers or something. I can’t advise strongly that you make yourself the priority and do what you think is right for you. I’ve gone to my gym for over a year now and the people there have seen me totally change and they have been nothing but supportive. That’s nice but ultimately I go for me, because it helps me reach my goals and get that much closer to where I want to be.
Outro
Alright friends! That’s my post. Thanks so much for reading some of it. This community has been very useful to me and I wanted to contribute back to that. The question is always ‘what’s next?’. For me, the next significant milestone is 275 lbs for a few reasons: it’s half of my highest known weight which means I will have lost more than I weigh total and it is also the 90% mark based on the numbers I have down currently for Happy Scale. I should hit that in the first half of December or so. Beyond that is my first major goal of 250 which is getting me out of the obese range for my height and into overweight status. Early next year for that I think. Final goal I think will be somewhere between 200 and 240, 220 appeals to me because it’s a nice round 100 kg. We shall see though. I also want to start running and pursue other athletic endeavours like tennis, snowboarding, fencing and whatever else may capture my interest.
See you around!
PS: Here is the doggo tax: a lovely beagle named Ducky
https://imgur.com/x82C6iY
