My Unbuild Thread. Or, becoming less of a man.

No, not like that. 

I stepped on the scale the other day and it topped 360 pounds. That is a pile of weight. I'm frequently out of breath after walking any distance. My hips and knees hurt. My arms are almost too short to reach around my girth to scratch my ass. 

Enough is enough. I tried Keto several years ago and dropped 30 pounds but it all came back with covid and a desk job. We are going a different route this time. Good foods, just less of them. 

Today we start the unbuilding. 

I downloaded My Fitness Pal and signed up for pro. Entered my stats and my goal and it recommended 2678 calories a day to start to lose an average of 1 pound a week. I have probably been averaging in excess of 4000 a day for a long time. I will add in 3 to 4 days of exercise to help things out. 

My goal is a comfortably fat 250 pounds. That's 120 pounds to lose. It will take more than 120 weeks to do it but I've got to start somewhere. 

So, day one: 360 pounds.

I managed to stay under the 2678 calories fairly easily. Not by changing what I eat, but by changing how much of it. 

See you in a week.

Feel free to call me out if you don't hear from me in here regularly. I get the feeling I'm going to need all the reminders I can get. 

Good for you, Toyman.

Journaling here for accountability is brave - you can do it though. Do you consume a lot of sugar including OJ, sodas, etc? Ridding your life if those will be hard due to withdrawals but it can be done with determination. Seeya on page 100.  

For sure drink only water.  

In reply to OHSCrifle :

My soda limit was 1 or less per week. Lemonade and milk is my weakness which aren't any better. Cutting them down will help. Other than that I mostly drink water.

I do take sugar in my coffee but I'll die rather than giving that up. It's only a couple of tsp per day. 

I have a quantity problem instead of a sugar problem. I'm hoping that purposefully tracking my intake will help get the quantities down significantly. 

I definitely hear you on wanting to keep something familiar amid the chaos, but I went from two sugars to just a packet of Stevia in my coffee and it's been OK.  YMMV, of course.

Pro tip: if you get drive-through coffee, keep some Stevia in your car. (And a stir-stick in a baggie.) Some people's sweetener tastes awful.

Oh, and good luck with all this.

Calories are easy to let creep into your life.  I've been trying to watch the little extras that sneak in like oh I can have just one bag of chips that turns into three.  Good on you and I'll be here to support you.

Oh and I've heard that for every 10lbs you lose you gain an inch.  Just think of the possibilities.

Make sure you track everything, and I mean everything.  Down to a stick of gum.  My Fitness Pal is only as good as how diligent you are with it.  

I've had success with it, and glad something like that exists.  

You got this! 

We're all pulling for ya.

Couple years ago, I was having issues that Google-U said were indicators of a gluten sensitivity.  On a whim, I cut gluten, and instead of finding gluten-free equivalents, I just ate from whatever else we normally got in groceries.

I dropped 14% of my body weight within a few months, with no other change.  Even Skinnier, I know....

And I feel a whole lot better now, too!

Good luck man!  We believe in you!!

Stampie said:

Oh and I've heard that for every 10lbs you lose you gain an inch.  Just think of the possibilities.

Guess he's gonna change careers too.

Good for you - portion control is my key to getting the weight off.

Traveling on the road in hotels is hard because sometimes you feel you need to reward yourself with large meals in restaurants.

In reply to Datsun310Guy :

Lunches were killing me. I couldn't walk into a restaurant and order a salad or a lite meal. Or stop by the Chinese buffet and stop with a small plate. 

I'll be packing lunches for a while. Tomorrow is a salmon salad I made from the leftover baked salmon we had for dinner. I'm kind of looking forward to it. 

Build in healthy snacks - decent granola bar for 3pm.  Piece of fruit at 10am.  

Don't think you can have a small salad at noon and make it til 6pm.  There's a whole theory on fruit and natural sugars and even what part of the day to eat it.  You can research that.  

I used to go to Chinese buffets and "eat only one plate" or "eat only veggies and Lo Mein noodles".  Then I just stayed away.  

I've gone to intermitant fasting.  I still try and manange my portion size, but I eat from about 9:00am to 6:00pm and then nothing with calories after that.

I drink sparkling water, (I cut all sodas about 16 years ago) and don't drink coffee or tea, but as long as you used a non-calorie sweetner, you could enjoy those.

I have lost 20 pounds in 4 months with only that change.  That includes the 5 pounds I gained over Christmas.

Hell yeah man. Good sleep, plenty of water, a bit of exercise. Don't get discouraged if you plateau for a bit. 

I recommend looking at it from a weekly total rather than daily. Always seemed easier to me because I wouldn't get discouraged if I slipped. 
 

Good luck!

mtn said:

I recommend looking at it from a weekly total rather than daily. Always seemed easier to me because I wouldn't get discouraged if I slipped. 
 

Good luck!

This is a decent suggestion.  The problem I always have with getting my weight under control is the rigidity I need in order to do it.  The daily stuff just wears you down.

That being said, I cut 90% or all sugar about 4-6 months ago and have lost 30-ish lbs.

You got this, man.

Chug, and I mean chug, a full glass of water before every meal and snack, and then eat. Stop eating when you stop being hungry and eat again when you are hungry. Chug that water every time and it will help you feel full. After a little while, your stomach shrinks a little, but eating until you are full breaks that. Always stop, even with one bite left, as soon as you stop feeling hungry.

Share your progress so we can keep cheering you on!

Simple thing for me was no more junk food in the house.

If it's there, I'll eat it.

If not, no big deal, I won't graze and I'm too lazy to drive to buy junk food.

If I'm really hungry, I just eat some of the healthy stuff we keep around.

I went from 285 to 243 from February to August last year.  Pretty stable in the mid 240s, although Christmas was a bit tough on me.  I used weight watchers.  I think anything that makes you aware of exactly what you are doing will work.  

I've stalled because I didn't really believe I would lose the weight, and 245 Is where I was 25 years ago.  I can lace my shoes and breathe.  I can do things so much easier than I have for years...  I'm going to get a bit more serious again now, try to lose another 20, which will put me at my weight from my 20's.  

The keeping weight off has been reasonably easy, but when I embarked on this, I knew that I could never go back to the old ways.  I'm still paying for the WW app, entering everything.  I'm not lying to myself too much, but that's the trick.  

You can do it.  Be aware of everything you stuff in your face...  I would picture my Mom saying, " Do you really need that, Jim?".  What ever works.

Funny side effect,  fries taste weird to me now.  Kraft zesty lime Italian salad dressing is really good.

ShawnG said:

If it's there, I'll eat it.

Classic - bag of tortilla chips and a bag of apples in our kitchen.  Chips eaten and apples rot.  

No chips in the house and I grab an apple to snack on.  

You can do it.  Focus.  I had a very good friend who weighed 370 - he recently decided to do something about it, but he died suddenly last week.  62 years old, 2 months short of retirement.  Make no mistake, it won't be easy, but it's important.  Fewer calories, more exercise, determination and patience for the long haul.

Go get 'em Toyman!

EDIT: Have you heard of or considered Semaglutide or a similar medication? 

So, apparently I need to watch more than just calories. 

I'm under the calories, no problem. Actually under 2000 for today.

Protein was 21g over, fats were all over, cholesterol was way over.

Then, sugars, fibers, and carbs were way under. 

Today's food was 2 eggs with cheese and my usual coffee for breakfast. Salmon salad and triskets for lunch. About 10 oz of roast beef, a cup of white rice with gravy, and 2 cups of broccoli for dinner. Other than the coffee I drank water.

I guess I need to double up on the veggies and fruits and cut back on the meats.

I'm also wondering if I would be better off with a larger Breakfast and a smaller dinner.

I'm open to suggestions.