[SV] 130lb down, my thoughts on the journey and progress pics [male 6'4 220lb]
Here is me at or around my heaviest:
https://i.imgur.com/v73kUHu.jpg
Here is me after 60lb lost:
https://i.imgur.com/lqrmEcJ.jpg
And here is me today, finally reaching 100KG (220lb) and, in a matter of bowel movements, going below 100KG and finally seeing only two digits on my metric scale.
.
What did I do?
In terms of diet, my number one priority has been calories. I haven't worried about carb intake, and I haven't been too strict about protein intake either. I've kept fat intake reasonably low.
The most important part for me has been discovering intermittent fasting. I've been doing 20/4 with two meals or OMAD, mainly eating the exact same things every day.
To anyone worrying about carb intake, calorie cycling, protein intake etc.. I would personally just focus on calories, and only focus on the other stuff if you really enjoy being super meticulous about your diet. I've had my bouts with super strict dieting and training regimes, but what I've realized is that there are other things in life that takes priority over living essentially like a bodybuilder, and for my money the benefits are so incredibly marginal - I want to lose weight, and thats a question of calories. I know I'm preaching to the choir here, as the loseit subreddit is easily the realest weight loss sub on this site, with very small amounts of bullshit compared to many other subs.
As for training, I've lifted weights. I started out doing stronglifts 5x5, but pretty early on I substituted it with my own makeshift program, which is essentially smolov for squats, 5x5 bench press, 3x10 pulldowns and then some random accesories like bicep curls, back extentions, facepulls etc.
I've done basically no cardio, lets say 10 sessions in total. I am considering starting doing cardio again now that my body is getting lighter and its not such a strain to get out and do stuff anymore.
I think that training for me long term is going to revolve around lifting weights 3-4 times a week, and then do some cardio sparingly, mostly sprints or HIIT as I just don't enjoy LISS a whole lot. Maybe I'll give it a try now since its summer, but not likely on a treadmill.
I've also done sports on and off, namely jiu jitsu and wrestling. Unfortunately my schedule haven't allowed me to keep doing that.
My recommendation for people looking to lose weight would be to just avoid cardio altogether. I know its healthy, I know its potentially enjoyable, but for most people that just adds a whole lot of extra effort that is not strictly necessary at all, and its a mental strain busting your ass in the gym without really gaining any quick progress.
The way I see it, optimal weight loss is all about taking the biggest caloric deficits (being safe and healthy of course) which feels like the least amount of effort. Thats why I recommend only doing the amount of training that actually motivates and feels fun. For me that is lifting pretty often cause I enjoy it, and doing basically no cardio because I don't enjoy it.
Food/sugar addiction rant
Last year, I quit tobacco. I learned something very valuable by quitting tobacco - I gained a new understanding of what addiction is, and how to deal with them.
What I learned was that nicotine did not give me anything that I would otherwise miss - it simply made me crave the next nicotine high without giving me anything except cancer. The same can be said about sugar and hypercaloric, hyperpalatable foods. I banned certain foods that I view as simply too tasty, too calorie dense - foods which I honestly believe are completely incongruent with a healthy lifestyle and completely unecessary to ever consume.
These foods are:
Pizza Noodles Energy drinks & Soda (sugar free is of course alright) Pastry Candy Ice cream
I'm sure I could find more to add, but you get the general jist of it. Its not that I would never ever ever consume these foods, I just knew I needed to never have them in the house, or allow myself to purchase it. If someone asked me out to eat, I would just avoid those foods, or make up for it by increasing my fasting. If I was visiting someone, I could take a bite of chocolate or something, and then just be strict and stop.
What I've learned is that it is MUCH easier, and much more enjoyable for me to stay away from these kinds of foods cold turkey, then trying to shoehorn them into my diet in a desperate attempt at being "flexible". I'm sorry, but some foods just aren't helpful at all when it comes to weight loss or even weight maintenance.
As I'm sure you can imagine, my old diet consisted of a lot of food, a lot of soda, a lot of candy. It took maybe 2 weeks for the cravings to completely disappear, and they never returned. I honestly do not have any cravings for soda, candy, or the banned foods. IF allows me to eat good tasting, filling meals that isn't just chicken and rice. Thats what I crave - a nice, filling meal with food that tastes good. As long as I have that and my coffee, I'm set.
NEAT
For a long time, I seriously underestimated the impact of non exercise activity thermogenesis. I think I kinda threw it in the trash once I realized how little I was burning doing cardio for 30 minutes.
This is completely unscientific, but my weight loss shot through the skies once I started moving about more during the day. It started with me working on my feet a lot, and then I upped my activity in my spare time as well - meaning just moving about more in the home, taking some walks when I felt like it, doing housework, random stuff like that. I've been able to significantly up my calories while still maintaining my weight loss on my "high activity" days.
I used to play video games - A LOT. I was a top regional player in counter strike: source back in ancient online gaming era. I then transtioned into playing starcraft 2 in 2010, reaching Masters - at the same time I played brood war on iccup, reaching C rank.
I then transitioned into playing league of legends, reaching platinum 1.
Now for those who know, reaching these stages in these games requires quite a bit of playtime. Looking back at all the time I spent playing video games, I must concede that I did enjoy it and have fun. But if given the chance, I would have never touched video games. Its not that I believe its necessarily addicting like nicotine is addicting (although it maybe is so). But its rather that it allows someone to bury their heads from their real world problems - you can "live" life without actually living it. If I had to face reality, I think I would much quicker have dealt with my weight.
Not to mention that sitting on your ass all day becomes much more enjoyable if you're playing video games all day. Once I quit playing video games completely, my activity levels shot up, my weight fell off at a quicker rate, and I had to go out and live life, gaining new valuable experiences and getting a grip of my own mind and life.
My plan for maintenance [after I drop the last 15kgs]
I will keep fasting. I have no wish for ever eating breakfast again. I will slowly add calories on a weekly basis, likely 100kcal per week, until I start gaining weight agan. I will then slowly but surely add recipes and foods that I enjoy eating in a wider variety while counting the calories. After a while I will have a general idea of what all these meals contains in terms of calories, and I will forever calorie count in my head, but likely not log it in MFP.
I will weight myself daily or weekly and make sure I stay within a set weight range, likely 84 - 90KG. I will continue lifting weights and enjoy an active lifestyle with things I enjoy that I previously could not partake in.
Ok, this post is long enough. Here are the key information to round it off - PLEASE, if you have any questions, ask away! I love answering.
Height: 6'4 or 192cm Start weight: 350lb or 158kg Current weight: 220lb or 100kg Goal weight: 185lb or 84KG
Gym lifts:
Squat: 405lb Deadlift: 500lb Benchpress 240lb
Workout regime:
My workout regime is very flexible, some weeks I train twice, some I train 5 times. I try to have a minimum of 1-2 sessions per week if my schedule allows for it. If I have time, I'll go 4-6.
Smolov for squats:
4x9 monday 5x7 wednesday 7x5 friday 10x3 saturday
5x5 bench with weekly progression every session
Deadlift once a week, doing singles or triples. I try to not get too crazy since I'm cutting, will probably program more seriously for deadlifts in the future when I'm eating more food.
Caloric intake: 2300kcal for the first 6 months, then 1600-2300kcal depending on activity levels. I have had in total 2 serious diet breaks. One was during this last christmas where I went full potato for about a week, eating likely 5000kcal per day for at least a week. The other was one week where I was probably around 3000kcal per day for the week on average.
I have avoided cheat meals entirely, if I did have something "bad" I simply fasted longer to make up for it, or on a couple of occations I just accepted the surplus and went on with my life.
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