A weighty issue

[SubKekiLee]

I am fat.

There's no two ways around it.

I'm better now than I was a year ago..

http://i79.photobucket.com/albums/j145/Llikia/march2007.jpg

I'm a HELL of a lot better than I was two years ago...
http://i79.photobucket.com/albums/j145/Llikia/england2006.jpg


I stopped getting on the scale somewhere around 360-370lbs. Malin and I tried dieting and kept saying.. we need to so something.. but we never did. We were in our mid-thirties and moved around like old people.

A year ago last September, he decided he'd had enough and bought this diet plan. Well he spent a lot of money, we had to try it, right? Right?

I hated it.

So one day, after losing about 10lbs maybe 20.. I told him I was going back on Atkins. And he joined me.

In the first year, he and I lost 100lbs. Last July, we joined a gym. Right now, we're struggling with the same set of 10lbs as our body builds muscle and loses fat. The clothes fit better but the scale doesnt move that much.

What I have noticed, is that my stamina is better. I can be on top now. Used to be my hips and knees hurt so much, I couldnt.

I'm better.. but in my eyes.. on bad days.. I dont see it. To me, I'm still the HUGE woman I was in England... I'm the same woman who couldnt walk up a flight of stairs on the subway.

This is my in February..

I have a LONG way to go.. and I know it.. and some days, I cant see how anyone could bear having sex with me or see me naked.. but I will get there.. I will NOT turn into my mother.

http://i79.photobucket.com/albums/j145/Llikia/1203792877.jpg

YOU LOOK AMAZING! FI and you know it... YOU know V thinks so and so does malin.. I am proud of you and you have the spirit inside you and everyone around you notices it including the little ol chinese lady at your work.. LOL... Keep going.. youll get there I support you..

 

[SubKekiLee]

I know how she feels I just accomplished part of my goal.. I have lost 47 pounds since last June... with 22 of it coming off since my moms death... ( death isnt a great diet) but does work... I am proud of myself but I dont see the true self either.. but alot of people say they see the difference in between now and 1 year ago... I am not stopping until I am where I want to be...

 

[Homburg]

I have been watching my food amounts, reduced my sugar intake slightly & bee making an effort to get out of the truck & walk if I am sitting at lunch now that the sun is out & shining

One of the single most buff and in-shape guys I've met in my whole life is a truck driver. He drives a car hauler, and carries a set of dumbbells in his sleeper, and uses his hauler's frame as a gym. Pull-ups, dips, etc. The guy is frikken huge. All from clean eating and regular exercise.

I have lost only 3 pounds so far but still it is something...
we are only at week 5 so I think a pound a week is good

That's actually sustainable loss that is not likely to compromise muscle. When people crash diet they lose muscle as well as fat, and don't really do much to help themselves. A pound a week is healthy. Keep it up and you'll reach your goal!

Note - I have done both sustainable and unsustainable. I lost a lot of muscle mass on the latter, and will never do it again, no matter how quick it is.

 

[Bi_Kitty]

So one day, after losing about 10lbs maybe 20.. I told him I was going back on Atkins. And he joined me.

In the first year, he and I lost 100lbs. Last July, we joined a gym. Right now, we're struggling with the same set of 10lbs as our body builds muscle and loses fat. The clothes fit better but the scale doesnt move that much.

Atkins is what I was on when I lost all my weigh. (Although I have gained all that I lost and then SOME.) I really should go back on it but being in a college town its hard to resist and I really don't have the money to buy that right food for me.

 

[Cherrysweetdeal]

I just have to say that everyone who's willing to try to change for the better health wise are all very smart and congrats to all the people who've lost weight and are still losing it or getting fit. As to the bmi charts I disagree with those cause they claim that I am about 20 lbs overweight, if I was 20 lbs lighter I'd probably be sickly thin and not as comfy to hold.

When it comes down to it as long as you are feeling good and you're giving yourself a chance for a better life doesn't matter what you weigh at the moment. All that matters is that you are trying to change for yourself and to be happy with what you are no matter the weight.

Fi, you have done absolutely fabulous and bbw congrats as well, as to self esteem I find if you have people who care(and we all do) then you will feel better about yourself. I'm sure your a beauty no matter what the weight.

 

[WriterDom]

At a minimum people should get out and walk 30 minutes a day and I'm not seeing it. I live in a quiet neighborhood that's perfect for walking and I rarely see anyone walking. My gym is never crowded. Yeah, some might own their own equipment but I think that's rare. Owning something and not using it is pretty common. What we need more than universal health care is a national wake up call for healthy living.

 

[Homburg]

Well, in my case, I can look over at my bike covered in trail-dirt, and my squat rack with the paint chipped off and not worry about my own gear going unused. I do agree with you wholeheartedly though. Healthcare costs would drop enormously if people would just un-ass and take care of themselves. Walk, swim, bike, lift, just frikken move.

 

[WriterDom]

But no, we have Walmart providing carts for fat asses to ride around buying their chunky money and jelly filled donuts. They should be required to walk two laps around the store before they enter.

 

[intothewoods]

I generally agree with you both, but it's not always that easy. Some people are working so many hours, and/or caring for their kids without any time for themselves. Often people need help figuring out how to fit in a workout.

I do have time to fit it in, and I do, but I also see just how much harder it is now that I have a demanding job with long hours and a toddler. When he was a baby I could strap him to me and walk, but now he's almost four. He's not old enough to keep up with me, but he's too old to be stuck in a stroller for that long.

With joint custody, I do manage to fit in workouts when he's with his dad - but sometimes the job interferes. So I've started doing some of the kids exercise videos with him, and running around with him at the park, etc. It takes some creativity.

More importantly, that's me with some free time and a decent income. What about overworked single moms working two jobs? Or others who just don't get a break. It takes time and creativity and a moment of peace and quiet to think, okay, how can I fit this in?

 

[Homburg]

I generally agree with you both, but it's not always that easy. Some people are working so many hours, and/or caring for their kids without any time for themselves. Often people need help figuring out how to fit in a workout.

I do have time to fit it in, and I do, but I also see just how much harder it is now that I have a demanding job with long hours and a toddler. When he was a baby I could strap him to me and walk, but now he's almost four. He's not old enough to keep up with me, but he's too old to be stuck in a stroller for that long.

With joint custody, I do manage to fit in workouts when he's with his dad - but sometimes the job interferes. So I've started doing some of the kids exercise videos with him, and running around with him at the park, etc. It takes some creativity.

More importantly, that's me with some free time and a decent income. What about overworked single moms working two jobs? Or others who just don't get a break. It takes time and creativity and a moment of peace and quiet to think, okay, how can I fit this in?

Pfft, the internet is a wonderful tool, and a bit of research can provide some really great ideas. There's a trainer I really dig that specialises in "4-minute workouts". You scatter those throughout your day, and reap the benefits.

And WD's talk of laps around the walmart has merit too. There are ways to add movement into every day. Take the stairs, and not the elevator, park your car at the far end of the parking lot. Use your legs, not the electric cart. People hear that stuff all the time and don't think it works. When you're a sedentary lump, any movement at all helps. Even if you're not a sedentary lump, movement is a good idea for maintenance.

Personally, I'm lucky enough that my office is such that my wieghts are right here. I'll regular wander over and pick up a dumbbell or kettlebell and play with it while I'm on the phone, or just thinking about some project, or simply because I need a break. I avoid elevators. I don't search for the closest spot at the grocery store. When I'm at the grocery store, I stick to the edges (y'know, where all the fresh stuff is - produce, meat, dairy). Am I the picture of health? No, but I successfully lost a shitload of fat and have kept it off, and gained a load of muscle as well.

I'm far healthier than I used to be, and plan to stay that way. And it was all simple changes.

 

[WriterDom]

Weightlifting is very undervalued. Look in any gym and the buffest women are the ones doing free weights. We have none right now. Yeah, a few that halfheartedly do the girlie machines, but that's it.

 

[Homburg]

Weightlifting is very undervalued. Look in any gym and the buffest women are the ones doing free weights. We have none right now. Yeah, a few that halfheartedly do the girlie machines, but that's it.

Absolutely. The machines, by and large, are criminally awful things. I can think of just a handful that are worthwhile. Cable pulls, an old 70's vintage Nautilus pullover machine, and some of the Cybex and Hammer-strength products are about it. Toss everything else, as they produce non-functional movement pattern, muscle imablances, and do nothing to produce a solidly grounded and formed body. Working on machines (and isolation exercises in general) produces a person that is a collection of body parts, not a functional body.

Not that I lift in commercial gyms usually, but the times I've wandered into those spaces (travelling for work, had a free pass for a week, etc) showed the same thing. The women that really looked good were the ones in the pits with the free weights, plain and simple.

And those trips reminded me of why I don't lift in commercial gyms. The frikken weed doing curls in the squat cage and making kissy faces to his own image in the mirror made me want to retch. Get out of the squat cage and let people lift that actually want to lift.

 

[intothewoods]

Weightlifting is very undervalued. Look in any gym and the buffest women are the ones doing free weights. We have none right now. Yeah, a few that halfheartedly do the girlie machines, but that's it.

I've worked out in places with some pretty fit women. Yes, part of it is free weights, but don't forget that a large number of people who don't do cardio are naturally thin and don't have to do cardio or diet do lose weight. They're halfway there.

Again, yes, weightlifting is undervalued. Plenty of people just don't know this information. It's not like they're all being lazy assholes. I find the disdain that seems to come with discussion of overweight people to be really obnoxious.

 

[WriterDom]

Yeah, I don't mean to be demeaning. The last thing a fat person needs is someone telling them they are fat. And I struggle as well. I hit a summer slump and work to getting back to where I was when Thanksgiving hits and then I'm really bad until the new year. Not this year though. I'm determined to having a fit Christmas.

 

[Homburg]

Again, yes, weightlifting is undervalued. Plenty of people just don't know this information. It's not like they're all being lazy assholes. I find the disdain that seems to come with discussion of overweight people to be really obnoxious.

*shrug* I have no disdain for fat people. I'm a fat guy. I have disdain for lazy people. I work frikken hard to keep from being an orca fat guy, and to lift progressively heavier things (my primary goal is strength-related, not body comp related. I don't lift to be pretty, as goodness knows there ain't enough weight in the world to make me pretty)

I'm perfectly happy to share all kinds of useful info on weightlifting. No one is buying though. It's a little tough to hit the treadmill for 15 minutes, but it's frikken hard to hit the weights with the sort of intensity needed to produce gains. People want easy. Even people going to gyms want to do the minimum possible, and don't want to hurt or be uncomfortable afterwards. And then they wonder why they don't get results.

Moreover, when you talk about lifting, they say "I don't want to get bulky". Right, because women, with their MUCH lower T-levels, are going to blow up like Schwarzenegger because they touched a dumbbell. Ignore the fact that men build more muscle than women, and that guys like Arnold did enough steroids to kill a horse to get those muscles.

The big thing is how "hard" it is. AP, my lifting partner, has this woman coming over. He's trying to work the mojo on her, and decided that getting her to come and lift was the way to do it. She whines, cries, and complains over every little thing because "It's so heavy!". No shit. It's iron. It's heavy. You pick it up, and do that a few times, and get healthier as a result. Heavy is the point. But she lifts, and bitches while she is lifting. This causes me to say "If you can complain, you aren't pushing hard enough, and there's not enough weight on the bar". She has learned to keep her mouth close when lifting.

Still, I have more respect for her than for many people, because she tries. She's pathetic about it, unmotivated, and brings negative energy into my training sessions, but she's there. And when I piss her off, the gal can lift.

And viv recently squatted 125lbs for three reps. This is after not having touched weights in a year, and previously only going to around 75lbs. How did she manage a 50lb increase with no training? Simple, this time around she really WANTS to lift. She WANTS to improve herself. So she pushed herself just as hard as she couldf. I love that.

 

[Netzach]

Pfft, the internet is a wonderful tool, and a bit of research can provide some really great ideas. There's a trainer I really dig that specialises in "4-minute workouts". You scatter those throughout your day, and reap the benefits.

And WD's talk of laps around the walmart has merit too. There are ways to add movement into every day. Take the stairs, and not the elevator, park your car at the far end of the parking lot. Use your legs, not the electric cart. People hear that stuff all the time and don't think it works. When you're a sedentary lump, any movement at all helps. Even if you're not a sedentary lump, movement is a good idea for maintenance.

Personally, I'm lucky enough that my office is such that my wieghts are right here. I'll regular wander over and pick up a dumbbell or kettlebell and play with it while I'm on the phone, or just thinking about some project, or simply because I need a break. I avoid elevators. I don't search for the closest spot at the grocery store. When I'm at the grocery store, I stick to the edges (y'know, where all the fresh stuff is - produce, meat, dairy). Am I the picture of health? No, but I successfully lost a shitload of fat and have kept it off, and gained a load of muscle as well.

I'm far healthier than I used to be, and plan to stay that way. And it was all simple changes.

I am officially BACK on the grocery circle plan. It works better than anything I've ever done.

basically loop the middle, ignore the bakery part of your loop and take the 15 minutes it takes to roast some kind of protein and chop some kind of veggie.

 

[Netzach]

I've worked out in places with some pretty fit women. Yes, part of it is free weights, but don't forget that a large number of people who don't do cardio are naturally thin and don't have to do cardio or diet do lose weight. They're halfway there.

Again, yes, weightlifting is undervalued. Plenty of people just don't know this information. It's not like they're all being lazy assholes. I find the disdain that seems to come with discussion of overweight people to be really obnoxious.

Some people find weights dull. Really deathly dull.

Actually those stupid swiss balls are probably the greatest thing ever.

Personally my favorite part of winter was always x-country - the problem is that it does take some planning and the right conditions to get out there and do.

 

[Netzach]

Absolutely. The machines, by and large, are criminally awful things. I can think of just a handful that are worthwhile. Cable pulls, an old 70's vintage Nautilus pullover machine, and some of the Cybex and Hammer-strength products are about it. Toss everything else, as they produce non-functional movement pattern, muscle imablances, and do nothing to produce a solidly grounded and formed body. Working on machines (and isolation exercises in general) produces a person that is a collection of body parts, not a functional body.

Not that I lift in commercial gyms usually, but the times I've wandered into those spaces (travelling for work, had a free pass for a week, etc) showed the same thing. The women that really looked good were the ones in the pits with the free weights, plain and simple.

And those trips reminded me of why I don't lift in commercial gyms. The frikken weed doing curls in the squat cage and making kissy faces to his own image in the mirror made me want to retch. Get out of the squat cage and let people lift that actually want to lift.

I was strength training in a dungeon gym that you probably would love love love. I should go back to it - it just was far enough away to be hard to make a routine. As for women looking good, I would submit the example of my yoga instructor who lifted her own weight exclusively. That too closed up shop - I'm bummed about that, having yoga in walking distance really was ideal for me.

 

[intothewoods]

I was strength training in a dungeon gym that you probably would love love love. I should go back to it - it just was far enough away to be hard to make a routine. As for women looking good, I would submit the example of my yoga instructor who lifted her own weight exclusively. That too closed up shop - I'm bummed about that, having yoga in walking distance really was ideal for me.

I was just going to say the same thing about yoga. Free weights are good, but so is lifting your body!

 

[WriterDom]

I do Pilates. Yoga to me is extremely difficult. From a dvd anyway. I'd like to mix some in when my core gets stronger.

 

[Homburg]

I am officially BACK on the grocery circle plan. It works better than anything I've ever done.

basically loop the middle, ignore the bakery part of your loop and take the 15 minutes it takes to roast some kind of protein and chop some kind of veggie.

It really is an incredibly simple way of dealing with food choices. "Avoid the middle". Protein and veggies at every meal. Done.

Some people find weights dull. Really deathly dull.

Actually those stupid swiss balls are probably the greatest thing ever.

Personally my favorite part of winter was always x-country - the problem is that it does take some planning and the right conditions to get out there and do.

Well, see, I lift heavy weights. There is absolutely nothing dull about lifting a weight that will squash you flat and kill you if you fuck up. It's downright exciting.

There is something incredibly centering about having 385# laying across your shoulders and knowing that it will destroy you. And, in fact, is actively trying to do so. It's the best form of karma yoga I've done, that's for sure.

I was strength training in a dungeon gym that you probably would love love love. I should go back to it - it just was far enough away to be hard to make a routine. As for women looking good, I would submit the example of my yoga instructor who lifted her own weight exclusively. That too closed up shop - I'm bummed about that, having yoga in walking distance really was ideal for me.

Dungeon gyms rock. Mine is a dungeon gym. Squat cgae, a single (heavy) bench, coupla bars, lots of free weights. I've recently set up a low-tech cable pull system, and am working out the issues with it. And, as many of these items do double duty as kiny stuff (c'mon, who can't come up with fun uses for a squat cage rated in excess of 1500lbs), it really is a dungeon gym.

And bodyweight is awesome. You just have to know what you're doing and be basically coordinated. I regularly do BW moves that completely confound guys stronger than I am. They're frikken hard, and are awesome supplementary strength-training.

The bottom line is that any movement that you can only do 5-6 times or less in a given set is a hard movement for you, and will work to build strength and muscle. doesn't matter what it is. Go above that in reps (8-12 range) and you are getting some strength and more hypertrophy. Go higher than that (13-5+) and you are working strength endurance. (These numbers change depending on the individual, and your mileage may vary)

I do have some issues with yoga, but they're largely based on my personal goals. Yoga introduces too much flexibility into certain areas of the spine. Bad thing in my eyes. For a yogin, I'm sure it's good. For me, it would be actively harmful. Some yoga positions, however, are bread and butter for stretching and loosening, even some of the movements that encourage excessive flexlibility in the low-back. Good stuff.

 

[WriterDom]

Damn Homburg, 385# is a lot. I get the same feeling with 225. I'm not a big guy though. Only 5' 6" and I have to struggle with arm length to even get the bar off the supports without a spotter.

 

[FurryFury]

I'm torn between "someone please help me get in shape so I can be hot" and "hell with it, I really don't care anymore."

 

[EmpressFi]

Thanks for the compliments.

We just started adding 20-40 minute workouts on the days we dont go to the gym.

Now that it's warmer, we've also started walking around our building while on our breaks.

Every little bit helps...

And yeah, I'm one of those women who worries about getting too "bulky". There's a woman at our gym whose muscle mass puts MOST men I know to shame. I envy her convictions..but I dont want to look like her when I'm done. I want to be healthy and toned.. and that's why I dont really want to lift the heavier weights.

But that's just me. I only have to look at my chart at the doctor's office to know that my plan..what I'm doing.. is working for me.. and that's all I need to know

 

[LittleJade]

I have started and ended this post multiple times now.

What it comes down to is this:

I am unhappy with my body the way it is. Most days, I manage to fudge my way through hating my body, and have an odd acceptance of it... some days, I can't fathom why anyone would look twice at me, except to berate me, judge me, crucify me for my blubber.

I have lost weight. I have gained weight. I have lost more weight. And I'm always working on it. Sometimes I triumph, sometimes I falter.

I want to weigh less. I work hard to control my appetite, I try to eat healthy snacks, and I do my best to ignore my sweet tooth.

I once signed up for a site called fitday.com, to track my caloric intake and my caloric burn... I got obsessive about it, and went down to soemthing like 700 calories per day... and then someone dear told me to stop checking, that I'm fine the way I am, and that I should just learn to like myself more.

I like myself just fine. I dislike how I look. I don't think I'm ugly- I've got a nice face. But I think my body is ugly... or rather, certain parts of it. I like everything except my upper arms, my tummy, and my gunt. The rest of me, I'm quite happy with. If I could just slice off those parts, I'd be thrilled.

Dieting doesn't work. I'm trying to be more active, I'm going for more walks, and I'm working hard at the food thing again... but I will be going for a consultation with a bariatric surgeon in September. I've had this appointment on my books for over a year... and even after the consultation, I probably won't get to have the surgery for another two years.

I hope to be able to lose enough weight before that point, that the surgery would become obsolete, in my case... but, there you have it.

Someone lovely once asked me why I comment on my own appearance so much. After an emotional discussion, I broke down with "because once, I was so fit, so strong, even though I was chubby... and I look at what I am now, and HATE myself for it... "

I don't like feeling like that.

So.