Originally Posted by
The Baron
Muscle consumes energy, even at rest. It is living tissue, constantly rebuilding itself. Fatty tissue is from a metabolic standpoint just dead flab, with only a very small nutritional demand. So obviously, adding muscle will enable you to burn more energy, some of which will come from body fat, assuming proper diet. So get in the gym and lift. Cardio? Certainly! You might not be able to run well at your weight, but you can still shadow-box, or circuit train, or beat up the heavy bag, stuff like that. Combine creative cardio that suits your condition and body type with intensive progressive resistance training (i.e. lifting weights the way a bodybuilder trains) and it will be much easier to lose the fat.
Tell us a little about your eating habits. I notice that mose obese people eat a lot of sugars and other highly glycemic carbs. You need to forget that sugar or foods containing it even exist. Later, you can re-introduce sugars with your post-workout meal, but not now. Avoid potatoes, except for the skins. Easy on the pasta. No white bread or highly processed starches... a little rice is fine. Veggies are teriffic. Don't be afraid of red meat in reasonable quantity. The fats I see abused the most by fat people are the fats used in frying stuff. I never see fat people eating what I would consider to be too much red meat. That small amount of fat is far outweighed by the benefits of the protein that comes with it. Eggs are not just white pellets of death... they are a good and cheap source of protein. You can discard some of the yolks if your cholesterol levels are out of whack, but really, dietary cholesterol does not play as big a role in your serum cholesterol as you might think. So toss the fried stuff... toss the cookies and stuff, the sugar in your oats or coffee... forget about french fries for the next couple of years. Burgers are bad mostly because of the TREMENDOUS amount of animal fat, and the bun, which is full of partially hydrogenized vegetable oil and other methyl-ethyl-badshit. A nice grilled chicken breast or a barbecued turkey leg or a nice hunk of fresh tuna (do try it raw... check out a sushi bar for an introduction to this major nutritional delicacy) and some green beans with a touch of bacon for flavor, or fresh spinach leaves lightly sauteed in olive oil with maybe some green onion tops thrown in, a radish salad or some broccoli with just a touch of butter, and you are looking at a more balanced diet. From that point it is all about portion control. A few bites several times a day is better than a couple of large-ish meals because you don't get the big insulin spike. You can do this thing! Hit the diet forum and hey there are some guys there who really know their sh!t when it comes to diet.
A diet is not something that you just do until you lose some weight. Your diet is what you eat, period. You always have a diet. You can have a bad one, or a good one. You can have one that will eventually help you realize your goals, or one that will leave you bitter and disappointed, and yes, even hungry. You need to make changes in your GENERAL eating habits, not just specifics for a certain amount of time. This will be a major lifestyle change that will need to last your whole life.
Take your "before" pic now, and post it on your fridge, where you will see it every time you reach for that door to open it up. Take it naked or nearly so... let it all hang out. Swallow your pride. If you think fat is ugly, make the pic look plenty ugly. That is your disincentive to eat just to be eating. Do you have a "comfort food"? Lots of people do. Mine is Ben and Jerry's Chunky Monkey. I could cheerfully eat 3 pints a day of that stuff, but at 1260 calories per pint, two pints would pretty much make up my maintenance level of calories when off cycle. So I have to disassociate myself from that stuff except when it serves my purposes... like in a bulking cycle, for instance, or I might add a half pint for my cheat day while cutting. Watch the comfort food! Don't eat from boredom, either. I know people who do that. NOthing to do, so grab some chips and a brewski and flip some channels, yeah. I don't know what your eating habits are... but you do, and if you analyze them carefully, you will see where you can make changes to your benefit.
Weight gain or loss is simple arithmetic. Many factors are at work but it basically boils down to calories in vs calories out. You CAN find a level of total calories that will enable you to lose bodyweight. With proper diet and training, the loss will be mostly fat, not muscle. But the total bodyweight loss or gain depends on calories consumed vs calories expended as energy. The remainder does not just evaporate... it is stored... as FAT! So cut back the calories, but gradually. Starving yourself is counterproductive. Now remember that there is a difference between starving and feeling hungry! A hormone called Leptin exerts a lot of control over these feelings of hunger or fullness. It is not a DIRECT response to eating enough or not enough. Ignore those hunger pangs... they are illusory, brought on by a traitorious hormone. YOU decide if you are eating enough for proper nutrition, not some false sensation! This takes discipline, but your "before" pic is a good disincentive. Maybe put up a pic next to it of a male body similar to the one you seek. I know, sounds faggy, but don't tell anybody at work or at the bar and you are good to go LOL!
The gastric bypass is a dangerous procedure with a fairly high fatality rate and lots of complications. It is not easily reversible. You may find that after losing to your target weight, you cannot gain any muscle, due to not being able to digest enough calories and especially protein to bulk. If you decide to try a cycle or two, you will be thoroughly disappointed if you cannot eat enough to grow. Most people with whole, unaltered stomachs have trouble eating enough when on cycle. You will certainly not be able to eat enough! So I agree that you should postpone surgery and try one more time to get going on the fat loss. Two pounds a week is a good goal. Doesn't sound like much, but that is 52 lbs in only 6 months. If you can do that, then you can keep going until you reach an appropriate bodyweight for your height. Meanwhile, you will be training, right? building some muscle? It is hard to gain muscle and lose fat at the same time, but a fat person can usually pull this off to a degree. As the fat drops off the muscle will begin to show. You will begin to assume a V shape instead of a pear shape. Chicks will pay attention to you, in a GOOD way... just strange chicks you run across in the street or in the stores. I used to be a big fat hairy slob... not 400+ pounds, but definitely not a stud muffin as far as the more desireable ladies were concerned. I remembered scoring often and well, in my youth, and I really missed that, chicks hitting on me cause I looked good, not just because I "seemed nice" or made good money or was White. When I started turning myself around at the age of 40, once again I was getting a fairly decent batting average, but now, the young chicks are half my age. Well, that's pretty cool... A strong incentive, when I start feeling lazy or greedy for more pizza or Ben and Jerry's. Funny what a little pu$$y will do to motivate you! So as you improve your physique, even modestly, get out there and swing the ol bat around a bit. If you are married, I guess that's out, but if you are single, get out there and mingle. When chicks notice you have lost weight, it will really make you feel good about yourself. (or guys, whatever your pleasure)
Good luck with this thing. It is never too late to turn your life around. The game isn't over until you're dead. You don't lose until you give up.
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to lose the weight without getting cut on.
