Help me unfatify myself

[Zeldak]

I would like to be delicate about this . . .

"Posts: 19,078" implies a significant--though admirable--degree of online involvement reflecting sedentary habits contributing to suboptimal success in OP's achievement of defatification.

Maybe a high-effort keyboard or a mouse that's really hard to move around would help any number of us burn off more calories.

 

[Koing]

I would like to be delicate about this . . .

"Posts: 19,078" implies a significant--though admirable--degree of online involvement reflecting sedentary habits contributing to suboptimal success in OP's achievement of defatification.

Maybe a high-effort keyboard or a mouse that's really hard to move around would help any number of us burn off more calories.

That really has no bearing on the persons post. The OP has made the decision to get himself in to better shape and that is all that matters.

I myself have a fairly high post count. I use to post *a lot* from work where I'm required to sit at for 95% of my time at work doing work.

I still put in 8-12hrs of exercise a week. I just got back from the gym.

Koing

 

[Koing]

hmm good point. I'm the same. When I run on the treadmill or do the P90x workout, I use the HRM. When I'm doing weights, I don't bother putting it on.

That's the one thing I've been struggling with. I've been counting every single calorie I've been consuming and I was averaging about 1100-1200 before I realized that I was eating too little. I think increased it up to 1600-1800 a day. I try to hit the 40-50% protein and about 20% carbs (T1 diabetic so I always try to minimize my carbs) and 20% fat.
So basically weight wise, I haven't lost much poundage at all. I think I've dropped maybe a pound or two over 5-6 weeks. On one note, I've noticed my belly has shrunk pretty significantly (still have one with love handles but they will die soon!) Could it be muscle mass that I'm gaining that's offsetting the fat loss? (hope so)
That's why I've kinda avoided hitting the scale the last couple of weeks so I don't feel unmotivated. I still keep my diet extremely healthy (compared to before, no doubt) and I work out 50-60 minutes a day every day (even after my 15 hour workdays).

The scale is a good indicator BUT if your weight isn't moving and your measurements are THAT IS ALSO GREAT NEWS. Otherwise I'd be worried about only losing 1lb in 5-6 weeks. I'd take more action if you only lost say a 1lb in 2-3 weeks and you can't account for the lack of weight loss e.g. you were ill, you binged (you got to be really honest with yourself) or you just messed up (we've all been there).

It's about being honest with yourself and taking action if you do not lose weight on the scale, and or your measurements don't change.

I'd track your weight everyday as it's easy to tell when your losing weight or not. Measurements are also helpful but I rarely did them myself.

Good job and keep it up.

Koing

 

[dabuddha]

The scale is a good indicator BUT if your weight isn't moving and your measurements are THAT IS ALSO GREAT NEWS. Otherwise I'd be worried about only losing 1lb in 5-6 weeks. I'd take more action if you only lost say a 1lb in 2-3 weeks and you can't account for the lack of weight loss e.g. you were ill, you binged (you got to be really honest with yourself) or you just messed up (we've all been there).

It's about being honest with yourself and taking action if you do not lose weight on the scale, and or your measurements don't change.

I'd track your weight everyday as it's easy to tell when your losing weight or not. Measurements are also helpful but I rarely did them myself.

Good job and keep it up.

Koing

I think I'll start doing the measurements and start using that as my benchmark. It doesn't help that my scale is a piece of crap either. My arms are definitely much bigger and I was able to tighten my belt another notch which is always a feel good thing

 

[Koing]

I think I'll start doing the measurements and start using that as my benchmark. It doesn't help that my scale is a piece of crap either. My arms are definitely much bigger and I was able to tighten my belt another notch which is always a feel good thing

Treat yourself to some half decent scales.

Losing a notch on the belt is great news. Good job.

I liked weighing myself everyday and getting my 7 day average. If your 7 day average goes down over the course of 2-4+ weeks you are on the right track. My weight would always be up on Mon/ Tue as I'd refeed on Sunday.

Koing

 

[dabuddha]

Updated the OP. I did buy a new scale from Amazon.

http://www.amazon.com/EatSmart-Preci...dp/B001KXZ808/

I'm still at about 208. Belly fat is significantly less so I'm happy about that. Hopefully I'll start seeing some poundage drop away soon but I'm sticking to it. My insurance company sent me a weightloss kit in the mail that included a measuring tape (and some other extra crap which I don't really need). I'll start doing the measurements as well.

 

[RagingBITCH]

Updated the OP. I did buy a new scale from Amazon.

http://www.amazon.com/EatSmart-Preci...dp/B001KXZ808/

I'm still at about 208. Belly fat is significantly less so I'm happy about that. Hopefully I'll start seeing some poundage drop away soon but I'm sticking to it. My insurance company sent me a weightloss kit in the mail that included a measuring tape (and some other extra crap which I don't really need). I'll start doing the measurements as well.

Bodyfat % is a good UOM to track, vs just straight pounds. As you said, you could have lost fat but gained muscle, as evidenced by the mirror. Another good indicator is taking pictures - front and side shots (selfies!) every week will help, if you haven't already done that. May not be as noticeable week over week, but if you are making progress you'll see it at least on a monthly basis.

 

[norseamd]

I think part of the problem is I'm going extremely low carb in my diet (mostly cause I'm a T1 diabetic) and I think I have to make myself consume more carbs? For the most part, I've been holding pretty steady with the 40-50% protein, 30% carbs, 20% fat diet and 1600-1800 calories a day. Ends up being about 130grams of carbs a day though I tend to eat less than that.

do you get enough fiber?

try eating oats

 

[alexhere]

try to increase your aerobic activity
my workout for losing weight included running, bicycling, swimming, stair stepping
later on i will move to muscle building

 

[Phanuel]

try to increase your aerobic activity
my workout for losing weight included running, bicycling, swimming, stair stepping
later on i will move to muscle building

You're doing it backwards.

Step 1. Eat less
Step 2. Life heavy weight
Step 3. Once your weight is manageable and you won't destroy your joints from doing high impact cardio, feel free to do that but you really don't need to do cardio to lose weight.

 

[dabuddha]

Small update in OP

 

[deadken]

Small update in OP

Congrats on your progress. I'd say those are decent gains considering the short period of time you've been doing it. As always, the trick is to keep it up.

 

[Snakexor]

Checkout starting strength if it hasn't already been suggested. I don't think that your lifting is very purposeful and will not be effective long-term.

 

[senseamp]

I recommend MyFitnessPal to track calories.
I started using it 2 weeks ago, and realized that I was eating 3K calories a day. I thought I was trying to eat healthy, but a lot of them were just little things you grab and eat, and don't think about, a little blue cheese and olives on your salad, a small pastry with your coffee, etc. Stuff you can easily cut out and not notice. I put everything I eat into the app, it's nice because you can scan barcodes, and they have a huge database, you can usually find what you are eating, or something close enough in terms of nutrition. I also add my Strava/gym calories in there. I limited it to 2000 calories at most. Also, I started waking up earlier and ramped up my exercise so I do about an hour and a half of intense cardio (biking, running, elliptical, etc) in the morning and burn about 1300 calories. So my net is about 700 calories a day or less. Lost 10lbs since I started doing it, about 5lb per week.
I think just the fact that I am tracking it is making me want to run down the calorie score. But you have to be strategic about it. If you under-eat and bonk during your exercise, you may save 300 calories on food, but forgo 800 calories of exercise because you feel like crap, so you are worse off than if you ate more and primed the metabolic pump.