What's your weight loss story?

darnay


Here's a pictorial journey through my weight loss..gain..loss..gain..loss

From 16stone to 11stone 7lb shredded, via an operation on my spine last year (disk replacement) and my weight climbing back to 13 and a half stone, and now finally back training since christmas and at 12stone 5lb..

fat 16stone, thin 12stone, bulked to 13stone.7lb, ripped at 11stone 7lb




operation and subsequent training since christmas...


and today


Currently cutting for the summer...

Wow great work!!

tashmed


Great transformation Rich how long did that take you?

I think I read somewhere on here or UGM that you're on a PSMF at the moment is that what you used to get into the condition in your second photo?

I was on a "balanced" diet of around 1800kcal/day with 3x weight training and cardio 1-2x a week for about 30 minutes. Rest of my day was very inactive sat a desk.
 
Protein was always around 150-160g, fats were low, carbs were timed to fuel activity.

It was around about 50lbs difference in those photos (with some muscle/strength gain) and took around 4-5 months. I averaged around 2-3lbs a week, with a weekly kebab and chips cheat meal lol.
 
PSMF i did recently it took me from 168 to around 155 IIRC but ive gained a tonne of fat after going on a huge bender for a few weeks (12-15000kcals a day!).

i'm now back on a PSMF, starting at 182.8lbs aiming for 150lbs.

What were you eating to manage 12-15k kcals a day? Do you not think this post PSMF binge was down to the restrictive PSMF its self?

Everything to be honest, 1 day i recall fairly clearly and it went something along the lines of...


Breakfast: Pizza + Chips + 2x Toast + 100g Rice = 1200 + 500 + 200 + 400.
Then a binge on pack of toffees(900kcal), 3 easter eggs up untill lunch (~1000kcals each), 500g tube of digestives(2000kcals?) and then MR Kipling cakes & quality streets(Prob 1000kcals since theyre around 200kcals a pop and quality street wrappers piled up fast).

Lunch was another white chocolate easter egg "sheep" thing(120g),[7700] 1 cheese trio pizza(1000kcal) and rich tea biscuits(I ended up eating 3 tubes throughout the day = 1200kcal?).

Dinner was Pizza, Mussels in white wine(350), Duck pancakes(dunno) & Garlic dough balls. Then i eat tub of popcorn(500kcals) and 2 packs of basics sainsburys chocolate(1000kcal), 5 large cookies(no idea?) and some wine gums.

My appitite is endless even with "bulky" foods, give me chocolate and ill reach crazy high calories.
Only stopped eating cause my mouth was sore from chocolate and couldn't fine savoury foods.
I tend to jump from sweet to savoury and back again on binges, get sick of 1 thing and move on.

Combo of reasons (Hormones = Telling brain to eat, eat, eat), Being lean meant i knew i could "get away with some junk food and still have abs", plus PSMF deprivation yeah meant i was so excited to eat food i just went nuts.

Plus lowered metabolic rate from PSMF = bad news.

Its funny, i eat so much i could feel where the fat was storing as all the areas it went to (Hips, lower back, stomach) felt really bruised/sore like id be beaten up. I can only assume the fat storage was causing some kind of "trauma" but it didnt bruise/go blue... just felt sore.

Rich,
 
Very interesting read - I fully sympathise with the urge to binge on a PSMF.
 
Are you maintaining a journal anywhere of the diet? It'd be interesting to read as I'm on a similar regimen. Had some great success a month or so back on it for a fortnight and I've just started again this week.
 
Ta,
Ant

"Remember, the total result of all your ambition is to be happy in your own head."

Hey ant, Sorry lost track of this thread.

After past 2-3 weeks of PSMF/Binge cycles i've decided to give PSMF a little rest for a few days and just try to cut on my old trusty "1800kcal/day balance diet & cardio" plan. I got to that "after picture" shape by cardio/1800kcals and although PSMF also gave me good results i cant handle it right now.

Once i'm on track with that ill add in some PSMF days, not got a journal yet but i might start one actually...Might force me to actually get back to weight training and keep motivation up.

Just spotted this I have an article from way back I'll see if I can post it!!  I have over weight and unfit in my alte teens and turned everything around in my early 20's http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=644346&id=637051722  (click back one for some reason showing wrong pic hahaha)
 
I totally turned my life around, I changed the way I ate, started exercising and cut out alot of alcohol...and now I compete and would never go back.  I love sport and very passionate about it all and most of all I love inspiring others to seek and achieve the goals they thought they could never achieve, because if I can do it anyone can

SPONSORED BY  www.savant-health.com

I had an accident at work nearly 2 years ago which changed my life forever. I started weights for rehab initially, however i got hooked and have been training ever since(less having to stop due to the injuries again for 6 months) started again properly in the beginning of the year and have dropped 8 Kg of uneeded weight. I stopped drinking and smoking and never felt better.
Just wished i had started alot earlier and not in my late 30's. I was a very keen footballer but had to stop because of the above.  What im trying to say is that i apologise to all the people i  called " Gym Queens" for  all those years. You were right, i was wrong and thanks for all the support.

Started at 20.6 stone 14 months in and am now 14.6 stone am aiming for 13.5/14 stone by end of june.    

Your muscles have no idea what poundage is written on the weight stack so don't let it bother your ego

At my heaviest i was just shy of 20 stone.

I was in a relationship which was bad for m as my partner encouraged me to eat the wrong things and wrapped up in a blanket of happiness i ate what she ate. I also used to deal with a binge eating disorder which i have since controlled.

I have trained in various forms throughout my life, but never lifted weights and desired to look good.

Just before splitting with  my Ex, i saw a photo of myself which made something inside me turn. I was determined to see my goals and change my life around for the better.

An 18 month journey ensued. I bought a copy of Rippetoes Starting strength and learned about lifting, i joined MT around 6 months after starting my journey as my knowledge of diet wasn't great ad exercise was only getting me so far. With the help and encouragement of the users here i managed to attain a decently low enough level of bodyfat.

I still wasnt happy though. So i bulked to add some muscle, screwed up along the way and put on too much fat and tried some rather extreme ieting protocols and found what worked for me when it came to cutting fat.

So now 3 years on from starting training i am at a point where i am actually happy with myself. Good old fashioned hard work, a little attention to diet and im drastically different than what i started off as.

This is to show anyone you can do it, if you just put your mind to it!

This is me just over 3 years ago now
      

One of me next to my heaviest was me at 12 stone 9 after 4 weeks of UD2. This was just under 2 years of training. Blue shirt is me at a mere 15 stone 8 after over bulking. That was january of this year. March i decided to do something about it!

This is me as of this morning, a slim 12 stone 7, holding more muscle than before but at a lighter weight overall and with much better definition.



I still have to deal with some things like loose skin which is apparent now, stretch marks on my arms, stomach and lower back. Some of the fat from when iw as heavy refuses to shift. But, compared to where i was, im miles happier.

Just need some new jeans now as you can see the current ones arent suitable for someone with a 31" waist

Nice work TIO and has the ex seen you since you split, bet you are un-recognisable?

"Continuous effort -- not strength or intelligence -- is the key to unlocking our potential."

Nope, havent been in contact with her now for over 2 years.

mum walked past me in the airport though last year

LOL thats great very well done.

"Continuous effort -- not strength or intelligence -- is the key to unlocking our potential."

About a year ago was overweight, almost obease I'd say.  Was at 18 stone+ then and over the year I've lost the bulk of the weight, 6 stone to be exact.   Got myself to 12 stone or so, within my right bmi height/weight.    Now just struggling with the "what comes after the weight loss" part now,    as I lost it fairly quickly I've got not enough lean muscle mass, so still appear to have flabby in areas, kind of just a scaled down version of what I used to be, except for the face etc-   so at the moment appealing with as many questions as I can on here for help :)    Possibly people  realising I'm posting question after question, but I'm determined to do the last stretch of the weight loss, just needing to find out exactly how it is that its done :)   

 Don't know if this was the sort of thing you were after but,  hope it was- tried my best to keep it short and sweet :)

,
alex

Aleexander, 6 stone is a fabulous loss and must have taken some great effort and determination especially when so young. I'm sure you'll continue to make all the right changes. Well done

Sponsored by Muscle Finesse  

Brilliant stuff Alex, a proud achievement youve done there

theiopener





I still have to deal with some things like loose skin which is apparent now, stretch marks on my arms, stomach and lower back. Some of the fat from when iw as heavy refuses to shift. But, compared to where i was, im miles happier.

Just need some new jeans now as you can see the current ones arent suitable for someone with a 31" waist

What do you propose to do about the loose skin ??
Just out of curiosity.........

HW

www.howardsway.co.uk

Howards Way

What do you propose to do about the loose skin ??
Just out of curiosity.........

HW

Just live with it. Im not going to get it removed. Im sure you know that its a major operation and im not too keen on the idea of it.

It will serve as a reminder of how i used to be and make sure it wont happen again.

theiopener

Howards Way

What do you propose to do about the loose skin ??
Just out of curiosity.........

HW

Just live with it. Im not going to get it removed. Im sure you know that its a major operation and im not too keen on the idea of it.

It will serve as a reminder of how i used to be and make sure it wont happen again.

It is not that bad TBH.
I have seen a lot worse in my time !!

Men seem to get away with it more than women do (in my experience).
I have seen women that have lost 7stn + who had a very large area of lose skin that came right down to the pubic area !!

If you work on your training & keep your diet clean, you will be able to pad most of that abdominal area out IMO.
Ab's are the solution to this equation, a thick wall of brick style ab's should take care of it.
Good job, Keep it up...................

HW

www.howardsway.co.uk

Some inspiring stories in here, Well done to all who have battled through it and came out on top.

My story started years ago however the first chapter of this book started last week.
Seems I have overcome the depression I was in (Well I hope so).

Blue_Lagoon3000

Ive been entered a few times by delivery men, i didn't hold it against them.

Now it is time to get all my thoughts, goals and stats documented in the first stage in my quest to shed 50 pounds or 23 kilos if I am being European J
Almost 3weeks ago, after videoing my golf swing and realising just how big and fat I have got, I decided enough was enough and I HAVE to do something about my weight.
I am 43 years old and am 5’9” (174cm).
My starting weight on 25^th May was 102.1Kg.
So far I have cut out all the bad stuff I was eating like biscuits, cake, butter, fries etc etc, and for the last 3 weeks have been eating good stuff as 6 small meals a day. I have not been hungry once yet despite cutting my calorie intake in half to around 2100 per day.
I  joined my local gym two weeks ago and have done 2 x 45 minutes of swimming and 4x 45 minutes of my proposed cardio plan (15mins treadmill at a fast walk on incline with HR@145-150, followed by 15mins on the cross trainer HR@145-150 finishing with the Concept II Rower for 15mins at a ‘brisk’ pace. I did almost 2700 meters in 15mins. I was very tired after but felt great at the same time. I plan on doing 2-3 45 min sessions before moving on to some HIIT when my fitness levels are better.

After a week of carefully monitoring my eating habits using fitday.com and making some substantial changes to what I eat
I was weighed at the gym on the 1st june and had my body fat measured with two systems, one was some Tanita scales that recorded BF at 27.9%. The other machine was a Bodystat 1500 where I had electrodes put on my right foot and on my right hand and told to lie on the floor. I have shown the results below :-
FAT = 31.6%
FAT WEIGHT = 5st 0.9lb
LEAN = 68.4%
LEAN WEIGHT = 10st 13.6lb
TOTAL BODY WEIGHT = 16st 0.6lb  (different to my scales and with clothes on)
WATER = 47.9%
TOTAL BODY WATER = 48.8%
METABOLIC RATE AT REST (EST) = 2009 kcal
AVERAGE ENERGY REQ (EST) = 3214 kcal
There is a big difference in the readings of the two machines (27.9 & 31.6%) Since then I now have a set of accu measure BF calipers.
My first reading on 4th June was 26.32% (24mm measurement just above my hip bone)
My second reading on 8th June was 25.3% (22mm) That seems like a lot of difference, but I feel confident in my measuring, I take three readings and then average it only if two of the three readings are the same.
Did my first weights workout on 2nd June…..boy did I ache after. I think I might have overdone the squats a bit as stairs were very unpleasant for a few days :-0
I went to the driving range in the lunchtime and hit 60 balls. I think having stiff legs helped my swing as I hit some great shots!
Shown below are the details of my first workout:-
Warm Up                                           10 minutes on Treadmill (HR=140ish)
Leg Extensions (machine)              2x12 @ 22.5kg (a bit light I think)
Dumbbell Squats                              2x15 @ 8kg each dumbbell (they were tough)
Hamstring Curls                               I tried this on the stupid kinesis system RUBBISH need to find an
                                                            Alternative exercise using dumbbells.
Lat Pull Down (machine)                 2x10 @ 27.5kg
Incline Dumbbell Press                   2x12 @ 8kg each dumbbell
Flat Dumbbell Press                         2x12 @ 8kg each dumbbell
Seated Dumbbell Military Press    2x10 @ 6kg each dumbbell
Dumbbell Side lateral Raise           2x10 @ 4kg each dumbbell
Seated Dumbbell Curl                     2x10 @ 6kg each dumbbell
Dumbbell Triceps Extensions        2x10 @ 6kg each dumbbell
Calf Raises (using Leg press)         2x15 @ 40kg
Crunches (machine)                        2x20 @ 22.5kg
CORE
Curl Ups                                             1x10 @ 3 seconds (very tough)
Side Bridge                                        2x10 seconds each side
Bird Dog                                            10x 5 seconds each side
Finished with some gentle stretching all in all took about an hour J
 
Jumped on the scales on 6th June in the morning, and was pleased to find that my weight has fallen below 100kg.
my weight for 06/06/09 was 99.5kg.
I did three weights sessions in the first week, the first almost killed me, but the second and third were tough but I recovered much quicker.
The gym I joined is a bit lacking on equipment, but I found out that they have another four gyms in the area and one of them is much better equiped with squat racks, pull up and dip bars and loads more free weights. The good thing is that I can go to any of the five gyms as part of my membership plan.
The better equiped gym is about 10 miles from my home, but is on my way to my workplace, so for my weights sessions I will now be using the gym in Yate.
Last week, I visited one of my clients at his studio. I have always known he was very fit, but never realised that he is the same age as me.
We were talking about my weight loss asperations and Steve seemed to really know his stuff. It turns out that he has a degree in sports nutrition !!!!!
So, for the last week I have been on a 2x a day 30mg/200mg/50mg ECA stack. I can feel the extra body heat sometimes and they certainly give me a boost in the workout (I sweat loads more though). I am drinking loads of water, but do find that I pee a lot now.
After almost 3 weeks of eating correctly I have found that I can only eat small portions, but still feel as if I have eaten enough. Before I was eating a huge plate of food.
Even though it has only been almost 3 weeks of sensible eating and 2 weeks of structured exercise, I can feel a difference in my body and my energy levels.
Steve suggested that I might want to try taking some ZMA at night to aid recovery and a deeper sleep (I am a very light sleeper). I took my first dose last night, it did seem to make me dream some crazy stuff (not as bad as in amsterdam though).
Last weekend I took my wife to the local cycle shop and she is now the proud owner of a Specialized Hybrid Bicycle. Maybe now we will get to spend some exercise time together ;)
I am going to stick with the complete body workout plan for another couple of weeks then I think I will go up to the 3 day split routine.
Tomorrow is BF% and body measurement day. It will be interesting to see what has happened. I can feel a difference already.
I am a bit confused with all the different abs exercises at the moment I have been doing curl ups, side planks and bird dogs + machine crunches. I think I am ready to try something a bit more challenging , so today after my weights session I did some stuff with a swiss ball, they are not as easy to use as I thought but it seemed to work my feeble little abs pretty well.
I know that it's going to be tough to lose 50Lbs but so far I am almost 20% of the way there and I am pleased so far, I do know that the first chunk of weight falls off quite easily and it will get harder :D
This morning my weight was 98.2 Kg, so far I have lost over 8 pounds. I can really feel a difference and my jeans are definatley looser.
I see that there are a few people on here from brizzle, I live in Hanham and am brizzle born and bred :-)
'ow bis me babber
Cheers for now
Deaks
 
              
                                                           
 

Hi Deaks and welcome to MT,

Or should I say, "How biz thee moi babbers?"  hehe!  Hanham is 5 mins up the road from me, nice to have a local on here  

Have you thought about starting a Progress Journal on here maybe?

Well done on the weight loss so far!

Fiona  

RedHotF


Hi Deaks and welcome to MT,

Or should I say, "How biz thee moi babbers?" 
Fiona  

Can I get an an English translation of that ??
JK *wink*

HW (Matt)

www.howardsway.co.uk

Howards Way

RedHotF


Hi Deaks and welcome to MT,

Or should I say, "How biz thee moi babbers?" 
Fiona  

Can I get an an English translation of that ??
JK *wink*

HW (Matt)

"How are you my dear?"

RedHotF

Howards Way

RedHotF


Hi Deaks and welcome to MT,

Or should I say, "How biz thee moi babbers?" 
Fiona  

Can I get an an English translation of that ??
JK *wink*

HW (Matt)

"How are you my dear?"

I am fine (low carb day but I will manage), oh that was the translation !! LOLOLOLOLOLzzzzzzzzz *wink*

HW (Matt)

www.howardsway.co.uk

I don't post much, but I do lurk quite a bit- find these threads very inspirational.


I used to work out all the time after being a big (read overweight) child. 
I started working out when I was 30-ish, got down as low as 90kg with 17% bf.
It took me about 2 years to do it but when I did I looked like this:




Then I blew out my rotator cuff which meant I stopped training and a slow decline over about another 2 years.
Crap food, major depression and 6 beers a night and I ended up like this:




That is me around 135kg- I am not exactly sure- I stopped counting.

So... about 18 months ago I started training again.
Mostly cardio as I still have a bit of a shoulder problem.

Given I couldn't work out with heavy weights I started with a personal trainer working around the problem.
I still go and see him once a week to work on things, but I train 6 days a week at the moment- mostly HIIT
and some weights (finally) and have a strict diet. The booze was the hard thing to drop.

I've dropped to 104kg and now on a 3 month cut to get down to 95-98kg which I think is achievable.

I still battle with depression, but the HIIT really helps with that.
I did the BUPA 10k run this year (did it in 1hr 7 mins) and signed up for a 1/2 marathon in September.

My end goal out of all of this is to drop to 10% bf. I'm 37 now, think it is achievable as long as i stay out of the pub and stick with the program.
At the moment I look like this:




Still more work to do, but I am getting there.

Great work  ^^^^   well done

RedHotF


Great work  ^^^^   well done

2'nd that motion.

HW

www.howardsway.co.uk

Thanks for the words of encouragement Fiona :-)
 
I will start a journal later tonight. I started documenting project 'New Deaks'  in Word once I decided I needed to do something about my weight.
I even took some pictures of myself at the beginning (I hate them).
 
My jeans keep falling down now. I dug out some trousers that I haven't been able to wear for the last 4 years and bugger me they fit, a little bit tight but not much.
 
Weights day tomorrow :-)
 
next week I am in France working Mon-Wed, Hopefully I can get a workout in on monday before I fly (from Brizzle airport of course).
The next weights session I can do will be thursday morning.
 
I guess I should be putting all these ramblings down in my Journal. Going out for dinner tonight as it was our 21st wedding aniversary yesterday.
 
Deaks

Yes get a journal going, will be good!

Mine began 11th May 2009 (a week or so after the shape up after i'd been ill).  Have been following keto diet and with the assistance of TIO and All4n, have managed in 7 weeks to shed 28lbs of weight with just under 4 weeks left before my hols.

Have gone from the one on the right, to the one on the left (upload messed up put them wrong way around!).  Well chuffed atm!

Attachments are not available: Download requirements not met

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Gaspari Rep

Sports Nutrition - Supplements with Free UK Delivery!

actually my aim was to become fat and iam now under weight
presently my height is 6foots and my weight  55 kgs and dont know why iam still under age and age is 19 ?
can any one tell me the reason ?

You aren't eating enough if you aren't putting on weight.  That simple.

Gaspari Rep

Sports Nutrition - Supplements with Free UK Delivery!

Hey guys, my first post! and i hope i get a nice welcome to the site :)

And here is my story....

Being in school at the age of 18 is always a grueling time, especially if you are overweight at 20+ stone. Even being 6ft2 didn't do justice and I always sort of denied my weight problems. Fair enough I did eat some junk food but it wasn't the amount that would justify the weight. So being around those that were regulary in the gym gave me the motivation to ask a friend to go along with me. I started by a few minutes cycling and running, usually about 4minutes on each until I was exhausted.

Next came the diet, the most important part was always to have energy and not to totally cut carbs. I would wake up, have a reasonable breakfast (bowl of cereal or porridge, jam on toast - cutting out the butter, and a piece of fruit.

Lunch was always a problem in the school canteen, the urge was ALWAYS there to have the junk food. But I knew the exercise wasn't worth the loss to eat the rubbish, so fish pasta and salad it was for almost every lunch.  I'd always have an inbetween lunch & dinner meal when I got home from school, just something light and for dinner a chicken/fish/houmous salad. I would always encourage myself to eat as much veg and fruit as possible.

Back to the training, I always knew I had a good engine (even being at 20stone) so Fat Burn was never enough, I always saught to go the step further and get my heart beat into the cardio zone, from jogging & cycling for a total of 8minutes I had managed to get upto 10 minutes on each. By this point I would have thought I had lost 1 stone.

To cut a long story short, I continued my regime for 3months and couldn't believe the success it brought. Out of nowhere I had lost 30kg, from 20stone down to just under 14!! I felt like a new person, I could run 5miles pretty swiftly as I did cardio and even my doctor said my heartbeat strength had increase dramatically.

However, then came uni and I have let it slip a bit until now. Over the 3years (4year course) I have plumped upto 16stone (100kg) and now looking to lose fat and gain muscle.

thanks for reading

ibs

Brabus - You got from 20+ stone down to 14 in 3 months, this is one hell of an achievment. So im sure you'll have no problem going from 16st back down to 14 again, just find that motivation that triggered you the first time.

Good luck bud

Pains temporary, Prides forever.

Hey supergaz, yeah only 3months! the first 2-3weeks had to be the hardest as it shows little return however, as soon as I had built up a reasonable amount of fitness I was able to gradually increase the duration of cardio each week.

My diet compromised of no processed food, no fried food, hardly any sugar (except that from fruit and juice and the small amounts in certain foods) and eating only when I felt hungry hungry.

But I put it all down to motivation, if you have it you can achieve whatever you want!

Also, can someone tell me how to calculate my bodyfat %

Thanks in advance

Hi folks, just found this site today and after hearing a lot of interesting stories thought i would share mine. Not many before pictures kicking about but found these. I weighed around 16st7lbs, struggled to get into 38" waist jeans and wore XL tops, biggest sizes available from the shops i used to buy clothes from! 









I wasn't always that size but had got comfortable with a girlfriend far too young settling down in our own place at 18 with a terrible diet and both put on a lot of weight!
She dumped me and I eventually decided to do something about my weight, so i started walking LOTS. 3 miles each way to work and would walk for an hour on lunch break also, making it around 9 miles per day. I was losing about a stone each month from this walking combined with a lot of salad and cutting back on what i was eating.
After 4-5 months I was down to under 12stone, wearing 30" jeans and either small or medium tops. Ive fluctuated quite a bit along the way but back dieting, doing a bit of weights and cardio 3-5 days a week. 

these are some fairly recent pics but lost a few lbs since then 













I know my story isnt as impressive as a lot of peoples on here, but thats my story and i hope it may help to inspire people in their quest for losing weight. I am now far happier than when i was a lot bigger, i can do a lot more but still have a long way to go before i would be totally happy with how i am. 

NI3K

I know my story isnt as impressive as a lot of peoples on here, but thats my story and i hope it may help to inspire people in their quest for losing weight. I am now far happier than when i was a lot bigger, i can do a lot more but still have a long way to go before i would be totally happy with how i am. 

Im sorry but im not letting you be so bloody down trodden on what is a spectacular transformation and a testament to some hard ass work.

Its a very impressive and an achievement in itself which speaks volumes, to which i say well done and you as anyone else here who has made a positive change to their lives are a inspiration to others out there.