The FAT Chronicles

[ATrollFromTheFatBoard]

Hi,

Its very simple. Use fewer calories than you consume, and you will lose weight. When you were exercising for hours and hours each day u must have been eating CARBS like a horse.

I don't *think* so(?). On my campus we had a health educator who put up the menus every week with the healthiest choices circled for those students who were weight-conscious. I mostly followed those (every now and then I got sick of rabbit food and wanted a taco salad with real sour cream!), plus I knew pretty much that the green crunchy stuff was healthy and nutritious and the french fries weren't. I ate *about* as much as my friends ate. I might eat, say, an extra half slice of chicken and half serving of broccoli, but then again I was running about four times the distance my friend Karen was, too.

*sigh* I'm beginning to wonder about the inferior genetics thing. I wish it were easier for my weight to reflect the amount of exercise I do. But I am not going to stop exercising because it doesn't. I did that once, because I was so pissed off about it, and wasn't very happy with the result.

Anyway, I am always open to advice about the best way to get stronger, have more stamina, and acquire better balance. Just lay off the stuff about body fat and getting thinner, because that part is pretty damned discouraging.

 

[ATrollFromTheFatBoard]

When I wrestled I used to work out 3x a day, probably for 6 hours total.

*Six hours a day???*

Nope. I'm not willing to work out any six hours a day.

Yes, it is pretty intense. I ran pretty much working as hard as I could work, when I ran. (And there are some STEEP hills there to run, too.) It was very discouraging to me that after more than a whole year I still couldn't go as fast as the other runners I saw out there. I got pissed off, because I wasn't improving the way I wanted to improve -- and for Pete's sake, I was starting to regain weight!! -- and that was one of the reasons (oh, woe is me!) I got mad and quit.

I work as hard as I can work now, though with the extra weight and the time that has passed that sure isn't as fast as it used to be!! But I am only willing to do an hour a day now. This all morning/afternoon stuff is for the birds ... plus I have a job, not college, so I don't have the time flexibility anymore.



P.S. did you ever try weight lifting. The idea being, muscle takes a lot of calories to live, the more muscle you have the more cals you burn.

I am starting to do that now. Can't do a whole lot of weight right now tho. Hopefully if I work on it every day that will change.

 

[Zirakzigil]

You have inferior genetics. So do I. I have horrible vision and I get colds a lot - my genetics are inferior. You gain weight VERY easily and have trouble losing it. Your genetics are inferior. Side note, your genetics might have actually been good a long time ago, when humans had to forage for every calorie.

Anyway listen, don't trust people who give you a diet that's the same as everyone else's, because YOU are not like everyone else - you've got a lot more weight and your genes are different. Eating a high percentage of protein can help. Post in the 'diet discussion' forum on this site, and give a detailed account of your problem, and see what they can do for you. Don't be put off by 'diet' - it's just the word for the foods we eat. The people there are experts at sculpting their weight to what they want to. Bodybuilders go through cycles of weight gain (both fat and muscle) and fat loss - and they do this predictably, every year, since it's nearly impossible to gain muscle without fat (at our wieght anyway), but they must lose the fat for competitions. Please go post in the 'diet discussion' board - we've had overweight people here post before. Note, it WILL NOT be easy, but it won't be all salads either. When I'm "cutting" I eat a lot of chicken breasts and tuna, drink a lot of milk, and eat all the veggies I want. Note I avoid carbs like the plague, getting just enough so I don't have health problems.

Anyway, it sounds like you really need to read up on nutrition. The "fad" diets that consist of starving yourself are invariably wrong. The body's first response to drastically lessened food intake is to slow its metabolism down - the opposite of what you want. The "fad" diets that promise you can eat all you want are just as bad. Those never work. Post on the diet discussion board, I promise no one will make fun of you for asking for advice.

Next, don't focus on burning calories. Focus on gaining strength. Do you have money? Hire a personal trainer a few times a week. If not, go to the gym and lift weights. Start with 2x a week, and gradually increase to more. An hour a day is all it takes. Listen to your favorite music while you work out, or listen to NPR on the radio or something. I think traditional weight loss is focused too much on aerobic and cardio stuff. Weightlifting is a great way to build muscle, which BURNS calories. Not to mention it will help with posture and mobility, if those are issues.

hope this helps

Just remember, your body processes food differently from other peoples'. A diet that works for your 5'6 120lb friend Karen (just making those numbers up), is definitely not going to work for you.

BTW again, by "diet" I mean "way of eating", not a 'diet-diet', or starving yourself...

 

[Zirakzigil]

I am starting to do that now. Can't do a whole lot of weight right now tho. Hopefully if I work on it every day that will change.

Yay!!

 

[Madd Hatter]

Whew, I see this thread got a fourth wind since my last post.

I actually think ATroll is one of the "good" ones, or at least one of the "tolerable" ones judging by the contents of the posts.

To answer one of her first questions about why we're so hostile, why the hate, etc.... for me, it's all in my posts in this thread. Review them. You can't blame me. Also, Fonz's post a page or two back was very good.

Ok, so the guns I had pointing towards "fat people" may not have been the best choice, perhaps it should be altered to:

90% of fat people

 

[ATrollFromTheFatBoard]

Next, don't focus on burning calories. Focus on gaining strength. Do you have money? Hire a personal trainer a few times a week. If not, go to the gym and lift weights. Start with 2x a week, and gradually increase to more. An hour a day is all it takes. Listen to your favorite music while you work out, or listen to NPR on the radio or something. I think traditional weight loss is focused too much on aerobic and cardio stuff. Weightlifting is a great way to build muscle, which BURNS calories. Not to mention it will help with posture and mobility, if those are issues.

Yeah, that is what I am trying to do. I remember being a lot more agile once ... *frowns*. What I do is the treadmill for half an hour, set on the highest program I can do without having to turn the machine down because I can't keep up, then either arm or leg weights. Usually the last part takes half an hour. On days I just don't want to go to the gym I get out and just walk a mile or two. (At least I am outside doing SOMETHING.)

As far as the "diet" issue goes, I don't think I need to be on food rules right now. I have never been diagnosed as this, but from reading up on it I am beginning to suspect that I have become a compulsive eater over the past few years. (This is after the big Diet And Exercise Burnout).

What I have read about compulsive eating suggests to me that I will have the most success if I don't try to follow rules about what to eat. Part of what makes compulsive eating compulsive is the yelling at yourself about what you eat, which creates the drive to eat whatever is not on your list. I have been trying to follow the "Overcoming Overeating" program by Munter and Hirschmann. And I do notice that when I don't yell at myself for eating things like ice cream, and I tell myself I can have whatever I want, I am much more likely to find that I WANT to eat a salad, or a piece of fruit, or whatever. Just tonight I went out for a steak, and took half my food home instead of eating it all. That would have been unthinkable before, because I would have been in this defiant mindset of, "Well, tonight I am cheating so I'd better stuff it all in ... I have to go back to salad tomorrow!" The whole idea is to eat what you are hungry for when you are hungry for it, and to stop when you are full. When you take off all the food rules you will naturally crave what your body needs. If that is vegetables, protein, whatever, you will naturally find that that is what you are craving. And I find that I just don't crave white bread kinds of stuff, cookies, doughnuts, etc. Ugh!

Anyway, that is the theory. It's really watered down, but I don't guess that everyone is interested in it on this thread.

I shared that because, if it is correct, then all of this fat-bashing that is out there is only feeding the compulsive cycle that drives addictive eating behavior. You get much further with an accepting, nonblaming attitude.

To Mad Hatter:

I think most of humanity is a lot more "tolerable" than we tend to give them credit for. (OK, maybe not Osama bin Laden ...)

I'd like to be friendly with people here. I think we all could be.

But it's important to get to know people as individuals, and not to take things out of context, or assume you know all about them because of what they look like.

It is my personal belief that a person's looks have no bearing on their worth as a human being.


I'll let you guys know how the exercise thing is going. Right now I have been sick for two weeks, and am going back to the gym tomorrow. And I am not looking forward to being SORE again!!!

 

[starfish]

Yeah, that is what I am trying to do. I remember being a lot more agile once ... *frowns*. What I do is the treadmill for half an hour, set on the highest program I can do without having to turn the machine down because I can't keep up, then either arm or leg weights. Usually the last part takes half an hour. On days I just don't want to go to the gym I get out and just walk a mile or two. (At least I am outside doing SOMETHING.)

As far as the "diet" issue goes, I don't think I need to be on food rules right now. I have never been diagnosed as this, but from reading up on it I am beginning to suspect that I have become a compulsive eater over the past few years. (This is after the big Diet And Exercise Burnout).

What I have read about compulsive eating suggests to me that I will have the most success if I don't try to follow rules about what to eat. Part of what makes compulsive eating compulsive is the yelling at yourself about what you eat, which creates the drive to eat whatever is not on your list. I have been trying to follow the "Overcoming Overeating" program by Munter and Hirschmann. And I do notice that when I don't yell at myself for eating things like ice cream, and I tell myself I can have whatever I want, I am much more likely to find that I WANT to eat a salad, or a piece of fruit, or whatever. Just tonight I went out for a steak, and took half my food home instead of eating it all. That would have been unthinkable before, because I would have been in this defiant mindset of, "Well, tonight I am cheating so I'd better stuff it all in ... I have to go back to salad tomorrow!" The whole idea is to eat what you are hungry for when you are hungry for it, and to stop when you are full. When you take off all the food rules you will naturally crave what your body needs. If that is vegetables, protein, whatever, you will naturally find that that is what you are craving. And I find that I just don't crave white bread kinds of stuff, cookies, doughnuts, etc. Ugh!

Anyway, that is the theory. It's really watered down, but I don't guess that everyone is interested in it on this thread.

I shared that because, if it is correct, then all of this fat-bashing that is out there is only feeding the compulsive cycle that drives addictive eating behavior. You get much further with an accepting, nonblaming attitude.

To Mad Hatter:

I think most of humanity is a lot more "tolerable" than we tend to give them credit for. (OK, maybe not Osama bin Laden ...)

I'd like to be friendly with people here. I think we all could be.

But it's important to get to know people as individuals, and not to take things out of context, or assume you know all about them because of what they look like.

It is my personal belief that a person's looks have no bearing on their worth as a human being.


I'll let you guys know how the exercise thing is going. Right now I have been sick for two weeks, and am going back to the gym tomorrow. And I am not looking forward to being SORE again!!!

Are you female??? Come hang out on the Woman's Board!!!!!!

 

[Magnus T Rico]

30% bf at 400 lbs? that is a LBM of 280. Unless you are 6'8" i don't see how that is possible.

I am 6'1". The reason that it is possible is that unlike a lot of others in my situation, I have worked in factory jobs having to stand and walk and CLIMB stairs and such. My legs are almost all lean mass very little fat. In fact the trainer had a hard time getting enough skin "pinched" to take a reading with the calipers.

 

[ATrollFromTheFatBoard]

It isn't full of people who are going to insist that I Get Thin, is it?

See, that is what we people over there with these troubles were upset about. I am going to take care of myself the best I can -- I think that all of us want to -- but, you know, if my body doesn't look thin as a result, and I have depressingly good reason to suspect that it may not, I don't need all this brouhaha.

I have diabetes in my family. It isn't as if I don't care, and do nothing.

 

[starfish]

It isn't full of people who are going to insist that I Get Thin, is it?

See, that is what we people over there with these troubles were upset about. I am going to take care of myself the best I can -- I think that all of us want to -- but, you know, if my body doesn't look thin as a result, and I have depressingly good reason to suspect that it may not, I don't need all this brouhaha.

I have diabetes in my family. It isn't as if I don't care, and do nothing.

Nooooo.... The ladies over there are not going to insist you get thin LOL.... We are not into the anorexic/waif look..

Get healthy and do what is right for you!! It's all about QUALITY of life..