I'm not normally the type to self-promote but I'm pretty proud of this achievement. I've been working since last may to lose weight, and at this point I've lost about 75 pounds.

I don't have a whole lot of before pics since I pretty actively avoided cameras. But a coworker found one taken of me at work and we recreated it the other day. Then he used a morphing tool with it and I think it came out pretty well.

Uhh.. use a lot of kleenex, did you?

Those allergies are a killer.

heh, I don't remember who it was, but on the fallen legacy forums (or maybe it was lanys, I don't remember), we had a "post a picture of your desk" thread. Someone posted a picture and their desk had a huge ass pump bottle of jergens, a big box of tissues, and a value sized box of condoms on it.

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World of Warcraft: Kallaystra, Gweila, Steakumn, Tarathia [ Feathermoon/Horde ]

Shit, I wish I could remember who that was.

I'm glad I'm not the only one who remembers that. it was fucking awesome how he got railed on it for like the next month.

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World of Warcraft: Kallaystra, Gweila, Steakumn, Tarathia [ Feathermoon/Horde ]

WOW you look like a completely different person. It's always amazing to me how weight loss can change someone's appearance so dramatically. Congrats to you!!

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That's awesome dude, you look great. Keep it up!

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I had the bottle of Jergens and the kleenex, someone else had the condoms.



Just saying...

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"I'm the best there is at what i do, bub, and what i do isn't very pretty"

Gives new meaning to pimp hand.

Big grats on the weight loss, it's a huge deal to keep up a healthy lifestyle like you're doing. You should be very proud

Congrats to you Sir!

Good job!

I just lost 80lbs (hit my 80lb mark this morning). I can't even begin to tell you how much better I feel.

I started about 4 months ago and the weight came off pretty quickly, but I am not a generally overweight person, I just happen to have gained 100lbs in the last few years. (quit smoking, woman kept feeding me, had money, ate out a lot)

Well, I am about down to my normal weight, and someday I will share my thoughts and some pics with everyone, - probably once I hit my 100lb mark.

I normally hover around 220 - I don't know what my highest weight was, but I did get up to 318.

Funny part? Nobody ever said a word to me about my weight gain. When I said I wanted to lose 100lbs, they all said I was crazy and didn't need to lose any weight!

Anyway, congrats on your loss! I know how you feel, and I hope you can keep it off.

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Draagun, congrats! Keep it up and definitely share more when you hit your goal.

The maintenance is going well for me. I've dropped about another 10 lbs since the first post here. Increasing the cardio time in the gym has helped with that.

I haven't worked out at all. I am worried about the maintenance part.

Food is a drug for me, once I get a taste, I want more. I can't have high-calorie food in the house anymore. I eat it. We haven't eaten out in months. That is actually how our weight loss started. We stopped eating out and then once we started making our meals, we started adding more and more vegetables. Tonight our meal consisted of 1/2 cup of millet split, 1 small chicken breast split between us, corn and black beans, and a crap-ton of Roma tomatoes and cucumbers.

We ate 6 hours ago, and I am still full. That was a big meal for us.

We never really go hungry, but the cravings for the fat and sweets are pretty tough to get past sometimes. I have gotten in the habit of changing the TV channel when a food advert comes on, and I try not to make eye contact with fast food restaurants. I know it sounds silly, but I get the same feeling about Taco Bell that I used to get about cigarettes when I was quitting. Unfortunately, they don't make a sugar patch for cookie cravings.

Once upon a time, I could get away with eating 2 double whoopers with cheese + fries, and never gain a pound. Not so anymore =P

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I keep a pack of sugarfree gum or mints close by at all times for that very reason.

And portion control played a major role for me too. Eating 5 small, balanced meals with lots of vegetables has really had a good effect.

We chew orbit wintermint.

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Wow congrats Taborcarn that is a amazing achievement!

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"Creating Havoc and Pie Since 2001!"
My Website: http://www.anthonyhays.com
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/cakvala

bubblemint > all

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Thanks

Lookin' good man. But personally I think the goat should go, doesn't really seem to be doing you any favors.

I'm down about 50 since Feb which is cool, got no pictures yet because I'm not at my target weight, but working out is some bomb ass shit.

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I think working out is suck ass shit, not bomb ass shit.

We have made an effort to be more active. We just can't stand the gym.

Our big activities this summer were hiking, playing basketball, throwing the football around in the park and roller blading. We are going to buy a couple of kayaks next spring.

I get too bored working out. I need to be playing a game or doing something "fun". We both like DDR, but we live in an upstairs apartment now, so we can't do that.

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Way to go Fat-Ass!

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"Every normal man must be tempted at times to spit upon his hands, hoist the black flag, and begin slitting throats." -Henry Louis Mencken
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VEGETARIAN -Noun (vej-i-tair-ee-uhn): Ancient tribal slang for the village idiot who can't hunt, fish or ride.

Bumping this thread with a small update: I had my before and after pics shown on QVC yesterday. It was only on screen for a few seconds, but was still cool to have the hosts talk about me briefly.

wow congrats bud .

Thanks

That's really awesome, dude.

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Hope is the new black.

Congrats to both of you on the weight loss. Good stuff.

Re: Draagun's comment on gyms, I agree 100%. Not my idea of fun either. I'd rather be outdoors. But hey, to each their own. The important thing is simply being active. Combine that with eating properly, and yeah, the weight just falls off.

A lot of people associate "active" with "gym" for some reason, but that's not necessarily the case. Doing ANYTHING where you're burning calories = win.
Gotta make up for the fact that a lot of people lives are now completely static. We wake up, drive to work, sit at a computer for 8 hours, then drive home, and sit down at home (reading, watching TV, gaming, etc.).

So what you're doing is spot on. Just pick an activity you like, and go with it. Whether it's walking, running, cycling, kayaking, tennis, squash, DDR, spinning classes in a gym, etc., it's all good. People in general seem to think you need to become a marathon runner just to lose weight, when in many cases simply walking a mile or two a day would do the trick.

Yeah, as long as you increase your heart rate a little each day it's a great start.

Don't mean to keep tooting my own horn, but I'm in a new commercial that's currently airing pretty frequently on TV:

Aw yeah, pretty cool! Congrats!

Is this paid - or maybe they supplement you with some tasty meals?

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Oh neat!

Do they pay you? I've always been curious about these types of commercials and tbh I assumed they were all paid actors.

Yes, I was paid for the shoot, and for the earlier photo shoot. They also gave me a free month's shipment of food each time too. But all the people in there are actual users of Nutrisystem. There is fine print at the bottom at some point that says individuals were remunerated.

define remunerated ... sounds painful. lol (joking)

Congrats man! You have done a fantastic job on the weight loss!

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"Creating Havoc and Pie Since 2001!"
My Website: http://www.anthonyhays.com
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/cakvala

Thanks

BTW:
re·mu·ner·at·ed re·mu·ner·at·ing
Definition of REMUNERATE
transitive verb
1
: to pay an equivalent for <their services were generously remunerated>
2
: to pay an equivalent to for a service, loss, or expense : recompense

Now I'm a little curious about Nutrisystem.

All I know about Nutrisystem is that it is a food service. While you're on their plan, you eat exclusively (or close to it) their food, right? Or do they provide you the 2/3 square and some recipes?

Are their meal plans focused mostly on calorie count, or do they consider macronutrient ratios as well?

How much does it cost?

Once you've reached your goal, do they provide a plan to ween yourself off their food? Or do they hope to keep people as "lifers"?

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The Nutrisystem Men's program costs roughly $300 a month. They provide you with 5 food items a day, to be supplemented by additional "servings" of various types. The meal schedule is:

Breakfast: NS breakfast entree + 1 carb serving + 1 protein/dairy serving

Morning snack: 1 fruit serving + 1 protein/dairy serving

Lunch: NS lunch entree + 1 salad serving

Afternoon snack: 1 NS snack item

Dinner: NS dinner entree + 1 carb serving + 1 vegetable serving + 1 (salad or fruit) serving

Evening snack: 1 NS snack item

So all in all it's actually a decent amount of food. I believe the women's program doesn't have the afternoon snack and one of the carb servings. If you work out significantly, you should add an extra protein serving. And if you still have more than 100lbs to lose, another protein serving is added. There are also specialized plans for vegetarians and diabetics.

The Nutrisystem manuals and website describe the specification of what a serving should be, I.E. a slice of whole wheat toast as a carb serving, 6oz of fat-free yogurt as a protein serving. This takes the balance of nutrients and different food type more into account than an exact calorie count. The optimal men's daily calorie target is 1500, but it can fluctuate about 150 either way depending on what entrees are chosen for that day.

The website has a meal tracker to record all your daily serving, and also keeps track of exercise amounts and makes sure you drink at least 60 oz of water a day. I think they also have iPhone and Android apps for this now as well.

They do have a maintenance program after you reach your goal, but this isn't included in their literature or on the website. You have to call one of their counselors to get the full program details. Basically it weans you off their food gradually, keeping certain NS meals while replacing others with equivalent alternative recipes. IMO, this is one of the weaker parts of the program. I see a lot of customers (myself included) drop the program cold turkey once they hit their goal weight, then find themselves fully back on the full NS plan 6 months later. The maintenance program could be communicated a lot more clearly and openly.

You need to send the system to THIS GUY!

Haha I hate to ask, but where does that huge thing between his legs come from?!?! Is it his balls? HAHAH

The area just above the crotch, but below the belly, becomes extended on overweight folks as fat can (and does) accumulate there.

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Aara rant:

You know, I truly feel for people who are overweight. Often it lowers self-esteem, confidence, and generally (IMO) results in depression, which can further reduce any chance you might otherwise try to lose the weight and simply reinforce the cycle of weight gain. It sucks, and when they're asking for help, chances are they really need it.

However, the fact that few people these days seem willing to accept blame for their state just plain pisses me off.
Yeah, surely your weight gain isn't because you eat 20,000 calories a day (10 x normal) and don't exercise. Some people blame family members for making them eat unhealthily (you do have a choice, you know). Some blame genetic problems (which realistically is only about 2% of overweight cases) Or, in this case, it's the NHS's fault (NHS = national health service, UK's free healthcare system fyi, in case anyone wasn't aware). But surely it's not THEIR fault because 95% of the time they're simply lazy, right? No, no, of course not.

Grrrr.

For those curious, a pound of fat is approx. = to 3500 calories.
So if you want to make things as basic as possible (nutrition information on the breakdown of proteins, carbs, LDLs, etc., aside), it's a simple matter of balancing calorie intake with calories burned (for basic metabolic processes; or lost via exercise; etc.).

eg. You eat 2500 calories per day, and burn off, say, 2000 calories, you have a net gain of 500 calories. So in a given week, that's 3500 extra calories your body doesn't know what to do with, so it simply converts it into fat. So at that rate, that's 1 lb per week you're gaining.
Or if you want to look at the long-term forecast, since gaining/losing weight quickly very seldom happens, that's an extra 52 lbs per year.
Kinda makes you want to do some exercise, doesn't it?

(fyi, "exercise" doesn't have to equate to marathon running, by the way. You can swim, cycle, do pushups, whatever works for you. Even shovelling the snow, gardening, or walking, will burn calories. So long as you do *something* for about 30min a day (recommended) or every other day (more realistic for many), combined with watching your calorie intake, you'll lose weight. And for the love of god, stop eating fast food and/or restaurant food all the time. Cook at home and it'll be 1000x more healthier for you.)