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Old 07-13-2010, 10:36 AM
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Hi everyone, I am so new to this Discussion Boards. Lets start off with I am 32 years old and my weight is about 296lbs. I just recently joined a gym and hired a trainer for 3 times a month.

I been thinking about having gastric bypass but everyone said it's to dangerous and that I did not give 100% to loss the weight myself. So here is what I am doing I writing down everything I eat, cutting my food portions, drinking protein shakes and working out. I want to loss 50lbs by Janurary and the another 50lbs by July 2011. Is this enough time to loss 100lbs?
My only concern now is after working with my trainer yesterday for the first time, my body hurts so bad. I could not move my arms all day. They feel so swollen, can't even move my arms up over my head. How do you keep working out if you are in so much pain? Should I keep working out or take a day off and let my muscle relax or do I keep going?

My family and friends do not understand either, the first thing out of their mouth is to quit. I do not want to quit! I want to be healthy and live to see my great grandkids. I just need real advice from people who have been in my shoes. Any advice!?

Thanks
Sommer
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Old 07-13-2010, 12:37 PM
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Hey honey, at my heaviest I was 244.6 pounds, but I'm basically an elf at 5'-2" (when I round up). So at 244.6 I was at a BMI of 44+ and morbidly obese. Christmas Day the kids got a Wii Fit Plus, and right out of the box it was fun, then I stood on the dumb thing and it called me obese, told me I weighed more than twice what I should and then it had the nerve to add love handles to my mini Mii. At that point it stopped being fun and became a war zone, me vs. the bulge.

Do I think you can lose 100 pounds in a year without gastric bypass? Yes I do, so much in fact that I'm banking on it for myself, and believe it or not I'm better than 80% of the way to 100 pounds and maybe 70-75% to my ultimate goal. I applaud your efforts to try and do this in a healthy way without surgery. I don't think the surgery is any piece of cake either. But just think how empowering tackling obesity on your own will be once you reach your goal!!! That is one thought I keep in the back of my mind everyday, I'm independently healthy and that's a fact. My mother has been begging me lately to stop losing weight, but technically I'm still overweight, so I just ignore her and keep eating healthy food and working out every day.

On the exercise, in the beginning yes it hurts, and it hurts bad, but once your muscles get used to all that abuse, it won't hurt so much, in fact you may start to actually crave that feeling. I've been pretty religious about my workouts, I'm at it 6 days/week and when I miss more than once or twice in a row, my body actually hurts from inactivity. Anymore, I only hurt from the workouts when I want to, meaning I push myself a little further on purpose, and even still it's not quite like the pain I suffered in the beginning. You might try taking a dose of ibuprophen prior to your workouts for a while, and I would definitely try icing the aches as well. I usually do ice followed by a hot shower, and then something stinky like Icy Hot, Ben Gay or BioFreeze before you go to bed. It smells bad, but it works. If you need something that lasts longer you might try a dose of Alieve, but be careful not to over-lap Alieve and ibuprophen, since they are both from the same drug family.

Last edited by almeeker; 07-13-2010 at 12:40 PM.
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Old 07-13-2010, 02:38 PM
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Sommer,
The first couple weeks are the hardest. I promise that it does get easier after that. You are definitly making the right decision not to go with surgery. You are capable of doing this on your own and the reward will be that much better when you do succeed. You are on the right track. I think if you are working out with your trainer 3 days a week that is enough to start with. Make sure to listen to your body and the weight will start to come off in no time. Use these boards as much as possible and keep us updated.
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Old 07-13-2010, 03:47 PM
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You so can do this and there is no better time to do it! Congrats on your decision!!

First thing you will find out is that no one is a supporter other than others who are losing weight also. Friends and family are nervous and worried lol yeah i was there too.

Best advice i can give you is to log into Fitday everyday and log all your food that you have eaten.Buy a small food scale and measuring cups so you can measure every ounce of food that goes into your body. Then you will have an accurate calorie count. And lose the bad foods as fast as you can. Fast foods, pizza, fried foods are all a thing of the past as are cookies, cakes, pastries etc.
Expand your brain to eat healthy. Think about your family history and what health problems there have been and google them with diets to find out more info. Myself i spent a few days reading on the net about "heart disease, cancer and diabetes" and what kind of diet is the best to deal with that.

It turns out that it is all so similar and tied together. A good healthy diet with lots of green leafy vegetables, orange and yellow vegetables like squash and carrots and sweet potato, and lots of fruit, some kind of cold water fish twice or more a week is a diet that is universal for good health and losing weight also! Bonus!

Back in the end of November i weighed 300 pounds and now i weigh 220. I am an active person but i haven't actually done any kind of working out etc. I go for walks with my dog and my wife, i work all week but i do not work out. I fully expect to pass the 100 pound mark in about 10 months total time.

You CAN do this!! Like the previous poster said, the first few weeks are the hardest. But as soon as results start coming in, it is rather addictive and fun to do. After 30 or so pounds, people will start commenting on it and noticing and then it is even better.

Ask lots of questions, there are lots of super people on this forum who are so willing to help. Don't be shy, take charge of your life! My life has changed for the better so much since starting this. And my wife has done the same and she has lost 60 pounds herself!

I look forward to seeing your journey also.
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Old 07-13-2010, 05:11 PM
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If you read the forums much will appreciate the good advice that almeeker and waynegretsky have given on this and other subjects. I agree with what they said and you can't argue with their success.

I am a numbers guy so I will point out how the math and your calorie deficit tie into your 100 lb/1 year weight loss goal. A pound of body weight correlates to about 3500 calories. So you want to lose about 2 lbs a week (52weeks x 2lb = 104lb). To do that you will need to burn 7000 calories a week more than you eat. 7000 divided by 7 days in a week means 1000 calories a day deficit. Use the Fitday tools to find your Base Metabolic Rate (BMR). This is how many calories your body uses in a day to do all the necessary things, like beating your heart and breathing, that keep you alive. The Fitday tool also makes you pick your activity level and calculates this into your BMR.

Log your execise activities using the Activities tab. Log all your food using the Food tab. Your BMR plus your Activity calories minus your Food calories (BMR + A - F = caloric deficit) needs to be 1000 per day for you to hit your weight loss goal.

So if this is just about calories in versus calories out why worry about the bad foods that waynegretsky talks about (pizza, Fast food, cake and pastries)? Because these are either simple carbohydrates or calorie dense foods with little nutrition. You can add most pre-packaged/processed foods and even good old white bread and sugar to the list. Simple carbs like white bread, white rice and sugar, are easy for the body to break down and metabolize. This is a good thing when your glycogen (the energy fuel for muscles) is low like after working out or doing strenuous labor. But this is a problem for the majority of us who lead mostly sedentary lives. If you consume simple carbs when your glycogen supplies are still full, the body immediately stores those calories as fat. Complex carbs take longer to metabolize (mostly because of the fiber they contain) and so they can be thought of as time release energy. Fast foods are notoriously high in calories. Mostly because they have a high fat content. Fat contains approx. 9 calories per gram. Carbs and Protein are about 4 calories per gram. Fat is not in itself bad. Your body has to have it for essential functions. Try to get most of your fat from mono- or polyunsaturated sources with your saturated fats coming from dairy, meat and eggs. (My own fat calories average about 40% of my diet, protein 30-35% and carbs 25-30%)
Protein is the only way to build muscle. Fat and carbs can only be used to provide fuel to your muscles. Muscles are the furnace that make up your BMR. I recently read about a study that found that dieters who did not exercise could see as much as 75% of their weight loss from muscle loss and only 25% from fat stores. That is why you must eat protein. (I recommend .5 to 1g per pound of lean body weight or 30% of your calories.)

To summarize, limit white bread, white rice and sugar. Substitute Whole grains, brown rice, and fruits. Get adequate protein and maintain 1000 calorie deficit per day. Sorry this got so long... and Good Luck!!
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Old 07-19-2010, 03:19 AM
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I agree with everything that has been said, so far.

I want to encourage you to put up with the soreness of exercise. Like almeeker said, it gets better the more you exercise. I remember being sooo sore when I started a new exercise that I truly thought I had hurt myself. They do feel swollen. The worst soreness I've felt was my hip flexors, the muscles that are right around the front of your hips. Boy was it torture to walk. Had to walk like a hunched over old lady, literally. So, what I've learned is that when you have a really sore muscle, keep moving it (while u are awake, that is). I don't mean work it out, just keep the muscle warm. Once you are still for a bit, you stiffen up right away. As for length of time for soreness, at the beginning, I was sorest on the second day and then the third day I felt improvement. So, alternate what muscles you are truly exercising. Lastly, think of your soreness this way, you broke it down and it is going to heal back stronger. You know you had a great work out. I'm not getting as sore as I used to so I am having to re-adjust that idea of accomplishment with something else. I am going for actual goals in my training, i.e. How many REAL push ups can I do rather than on my knees, that's hard for me. Try setting some personal goals to work toward.

Good luck!! You can do it.
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Old 07-19-2010, 10:06 AM
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I am in pretty good shape and I run, bike and swim regularily, but everytime I try a new exercise, weight lifting, yoga, core, even gardening, I end up really sore.

Your soreness is normal. You probably did a little more than you should on your first day, but the soreness will go away the more you do it. And then you will start feeling powerful which is a great feeling!

Good luck.
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Old 07-19-2010, 05:55 PM
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I'm right there with you... I'm 34yrs old and want to lose 135lbs for my 35th birthday (I currently weight 352 lbs)... It's a lofty goal but I think I can do it. One thing I promised myself I wouldn't do is push myself to the point of my habits turning unhealthy. I promised myself that proper nutrition and healthy exercise were the most important parts of attempting to reach my goal.


good luck to you and I look forward to seeing you at the end of the finish line.
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Old 07-20-2010, 12:20 AM
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When I started boot camp 7 weeks ago EVERYTHING hurt. I took Aleve BEFORE I went, that helped. It also turned out I have arthritis in one knee so I started taking a joint supplement, that helped. But as I've gotten more fit it hurts less, hang in there! Gastric bypass is no walk in the park. My BF had it and yes two years down the road she looks great. Guess what? she had to diet for the last two years and work out and she's still not as toned as she'd like to be, she lost about 140 lbs. Back to the gym, we are rooting for you!
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Old 07-26-2010, 11:36 AM
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sommer, i know how you feel with people telling you to quit, i have had the same reaction from many of the people in my life, particularly my family. it can be really hard to stay motivated without support but i promise you when you start getting visible results their attitudes will change pretty quick!
oh and the best things for muscle soreness are having an alternating hot-cold shower (as hot as you can stand for one minute, as cold as you can stand for one minute, neutral for one minute then hot again etc...) and eating fresh pineapple and ginger (both reduce inflammation). also you may want to try working different areas on different days so the sore muscles have a chance to recover... eg legs monday, arms and upper body tuesday, gentle cardio/walking wednesday, legs thursday etc....
good luck!
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