Obesity Discussion Forums

[Lyman]

Been a fair few weeks since I joined, time to bite the old bullet. Although right now a bullet seems more flavourful than the rice cakes and breadsticks that padded out today.
So like most of y'all I want to get the weight loss going again and there's no point putting off the first step. I spent all of 2006 steadily losing weight and, since January, have maintained. While I'm out of the woods health-wise I figure I may as well try and whittle down my remaining flab for the aesthetic (yeah I'll cop to that) and to make it not as easier for me to just pile the tonnage back on again.
Since I've joined I lost a solitary kilo (roughly 2lbs). Better than nothing, in fact if I'm able to maintain weight loss at roughly this rate then I'll be happy. With my current lifestyle I am walking roughly 1-3 (so I guess 2 to be fair) miles a day, with about a half an hour of light exercise (dumbbells, running and, disconcertingly, a thighmaster) in the morning. As far as food intake goes I try and graze over the course of the day rather than starve myself. When I can't keep tabs on keeping the nutrition perfectly balanced I fall back on calorie counting. Wouldn't be an ideal day-to-day solution, but in a pinch if I find myself eating crap I at least know I'm not eating too much crap.
Breakfast I try and keep between 100-200 calories. Black coffee or water, with either a bowl of raspberries or strawberries (either one clocks in at under 100) and sometimes a light cereal bar. Alpen do some pretty nice tasting 70 calorie ones. I guess one of the biggest changes in my life was making sure I ate breakfast everyday. When I was my most out of shape I found I couldn't eat in the mornings because the thought made me feel a little queasy. In retrospect I think this was because of all the consistent junk I would eat late in the day, festering in my gut overnight and resulting in a kind of food 'hangover' the next morning. Now I try not to eat anything past 9pm, which can be kinda trying.
During the course of the day I try and work as much as I can while I'm physically inactive so that I can keep my mind off eating. Fortunately my MA is very time-consuming and I tend to get lost in my work. Sometimes I even find too much time has gone by without eating. I've found a pretty decent tucked-away cafe where I get a lot of work done and the only food that distracts me are a range of sandwiches that average out at about 400 calories each so I can happily eat lunch there...occasionally. The other benefit I discovered recently was one of the employees there seems sympathetic to my plight so will hopefully keep a vigilant eye on me. Although we were discussing healthier milk options (I drink a lot of milky coffee when I'm there) and she good-naturedly recommended soy milk today. I've never tasted anything so hideous in my life. To paraphrase from Lewis Black, if there's no soy breast, it's not 'milk', it's 'juice'. And it's pretty godawful. So I'll stick to skimmed milk or just espresso.
The other girl who works there I think has worked out my achilles' heel and keeps trying to sell me muffins. Fiend!

[Lyman]

As a quick addenda to that first post -
I've worked out what I think is a pretty solid motivator for slogging away at this. My ma's getting married in August, and it'd be pretty nice if I had a chin for the photographs. What I've found helpful is comparing passport photographs that are a year apart.

The first is from January 2006, the second from January of this year. While I still have a face like a misshapen potato, it's not nearly as bulbous nor as frighteningly maudlin. So using all the scientific projection capabilities I have at my disposal, by analysing the difference between those two images I can accurately predict that by the time I've reached my target weight I'll look something like this:


What? It could happen...

So that's the first chapter of my blog. Self-indulgent, narcissistic and borderline introspective. Everything a blog should be!

[Obesity Discussion]

Originally Posted by Lyman

With my current lifestyle I am walking roughly 1-3 (so I guess 2 to be fair) miles a day, with about a half an hour of light exercise (dumbbells, running and, disconcertingly, a thighmaster) in the morning.

This is a good start! Cardiovascular exercise is going to be one of your best friends in your weight loss battle. Are you planning on keeping this same routine for a while or do you think you might step it up a bit in the future?

Originally Posted by Lyman

As far as food intake goes I try and graze over the course of the day rather than starve myself. When I can't keep tabs on keeping the nutrition perfectly balanced I fall back on calorie counting. Wouldn't be an ideal day-to-day solution, but in a pinch if I find myself eating crap I at least know I'm not eating too much crap.
Breakfast I try and keep between 100-200 calories. Black coffee or water, with either a bowl of raspberries or strawberries (either one clocks in at under 100) and sometimes a light cereal bar. Alpen do some pretty nice tasting 70 calorie ones. I guess one of the biggest changes in my life was making sure I ate breakfast everyday. When I was my most out of shape I found I couldn't eat in the mornings because the thought made me feel a little queasy. In retrospect I think this was because of all the consistent junk I would eat late in the day, festering in my gut overnight and resulting in a kind of food 'hangover' the next morning. Now I try not to eat anything past 9pm, which can be kinda trying.
During the course of the day I try and work as much as I can while I'm physically inactive so that I can keep my mind off eating. Fortunately my MA is very time-consuming and I tend to get lost in my work. Sometimes I even find too much time has gone by without eating. I've found a pretty decent tucked-away cafe where I get a lot of work done and the only food that distracts me are a range of sandwiches that average out at about 400 calories each so I can happily eat lunch there...occasionally.

Your eating habits seem to be much better than before, good job. Calorie counting while a pain sometimes is one of the best ways to monitor yourself and ensure you are maintaining a slight calorie deficit.

Originally Posted by Lyman

The other benefit I discovered recently was one of the employees there seems sympathetic to my plight so will hopefully keep a vigilant eye on me. Although we were discussing healthier milk options (I drink a lot of milky coffee when I'm there) and she good-naturedly recommended soy milk today. I've never tasted anything so hideous in my life. To paraphrase from Lewis Black, if there's no soy breast, it's not 'milk', it's 'juice'. And it's pretty godawful. So I'll stick to skimmed milk or just espresso.
The other girl who works there I think has worked out my achilles' heel and keeps trying to sell me muffins. Fiend!

@ the Lewis Black reference!!!! I love his comedy! ....."and keep that Soy Juice away from my Moo-Cow **** milk"

My sister drinks that stuff like water and it is the most disgusting thing ever. Skim milk is probably the best thing for you of all the non-soy juices. When you get your Milky coffees, are you getting one of those frappucino blends or is it must milk and coffee? I had a lot of friends/family freak out when I showed them how many calories/sugar were in their frappuccinos and mochaccinos. :eek4:

[Obesity Discussion]

Originally Posted by Lyman

As a quick addenda to that first post -
I've worked out what I think is a pretty solid motivator for slogging away at this. My ma's getting married in August, and it'd be pretty nice if I had a chin for the photographs. What I've found helpful is comparing passport photographs that are a year apart.

The first is from January 2006, the second from January of this year. While I still have a face like a misshapen potato, it's not nearly as bulbous nor as frighteningly maudlin. So using all the scientific projection capabilities I have at my disposal, by analysing the difference between those two images I can accurately predict that by the time I've reached my target weight I'll look something like this:


What? It could happen...

So that's the first chapter of my blog. Self-indulgent, narcissistic and borderline introspective. Everything a blog should be!

It's going to take more than weight loss to look like the guy below, about 15 hours a day in the tanning salon too!

You look night and day different in your two pictures, absolutely incredible!!! You barely look like the same person. You have 4 more months until the wedding. If you step up your exercise routine (especially in the cardiovascular department), and count your calories to maintain a caloric deficit, then you can easily lose 5lbs a month for the next 4 months, and probably a bit more. I always use events where I know pictures will be taken as motivation to step up my efforts. In fact, I have trimmed an extra 5lbs of fat this past month knowing that I will be on the beach in a week and have an outdoor poolside company outing in early May.

[Irving]

lyman that is such a wonder transition from before to after so i must say congratulations on the progress you have made to date. you are almost 2/3 there, so time to get down to business and finish it off! keep us posted on your progress and i would enjoy hearing how you plan on losing the remainder of the weight

[William Wallace]

Originally Posted by Lyman

As a quick addenda to that first post -
I've worked out what I think is a pretty solid motivator for slogging away at this. My ma's getting married in August, and it'd be pretty nice if I had a chin for the photographs. What I've found helpful is comparing passport photographs that are a year apart.

The first is from January 2006, the second from January of this year. While I still have a face like a misshapen potato, it's not nearly as bulbous nor as frighteningly maudlin. So using all the scientific projection capabilities I have at my disposal, by analysing the difference between those two images I can accurately predict that by the time I've reached my target weight I'll look something like this:


What? It could happen...

So that's the first chapter of my blog. Self-indulgent, narcissistic and borderline introspective. Everything a blog should be!

Excellent read, and thank you for sharing all of that with us! You look spectacular now! You should be so proud of what you have been able to accomplish to date! Don't stop until your goals and dreams have been met!

[Lyman]

Well I have to say it's very nice to be so encouraged. It's very hard to get the sense that people appreciate the effort unless you know they're on a similar journey, so thanks to all of you
I think it would be helpful to reset that ticker thing at the bottom as by viewing this year's weight loss as a separate effort I'll be less inclined to maintain by current bulk by basking in the self-congratulatory haze of what I've lost so far. In short, I'm still a tubby bastard and it shouldn't end here.
This week has been pretty good, thanks largely to the insane stresses of my MA which, contrary to the visual of professionalism the term 'MA' might imply, sees me drawing a cartoon duck over and over again.
Long story.
Anyway, the real revelation came today when I took a bath for the first time in five years (don't worry, I bathe, just more of a shower man) and to my astonishment I had to add more water once I'd gotten in, previous baths in recent memory having been accompanied by the risky business of overspill once my heft had landed. I think that's what they call 'living on the edge'.
Also had a bizarre experience earlier in the week which would rule out bulimia as a possible weight loss option, aside from the obvious fact that it's a bloody foolish thing to do. While getting 2 of my five a day craftily disguised as curry, some jalfrezi went down the wrong way and as a consequence I had a coughing fit which lasted five minutes and ended in vomiting. By the end of it the area of my face around the eyes was freckled with broken blood vessels (they faded within 24 hours but it was rather disquieting). If I were ever to actually try and induce vomiting I imagine based on that experience that my eyeballs would shoot across the room.
The well-intentioned girl at the cafe (who inflicted soy on me last week) recommended a vegetable wrap today, like, just pitta and carrot and green stuff. I appreciate the gesture but I don't think I'm quite ready to take that step just yet. Also I'm a little wary as she's decided, in true barista form, to adopt an 'edgy' hairstyle which kinda looks like she made to shave it bald, then gave up and just left it shaved in patches. While I'm ordinarily not a big advocate of contrived eccentricity, she wears it well. Well, better than I would. If I turn proper veggie though, lord knows what I might end up doing to my own hair. I already look like Van Helsing with a drinking problem.
The heat in Bristol also seems to be a contributing factor to my sensible eating. It's been muggy with the occasional dose of actual sunshine and as a consequence once I've returned from my day's walking, lethargy has taken over. The act of microwaving some prepackaged MSG is too much effort, let alone preparing a giant meal or going to the store. With some skillful handling I can harness one genetic disposition - laziness - and use it to battle another, my natural gluttony.
There's a lot of rambling and ranting about a lot of unrelated nonsense in here. As it actually helps to just type something as a means of distraction I may just use this thread for that. As for my actual progress thus far, I'm another lb down from last week. I guess 1lb a week is steady enough for the time being.
Thanks again for your support

[Obesity Discussion]

Originally Posted by Lyman

Well I have to say it's very nice to be so encouraged. It's very hard to get the sense that people appreciate the effort unless you know they're on a similar journey, so thanks to all of you
I think it would be helpful to reset that ticker thing at the bottom as by viewing this year's weight loss as a separate effort I'll be less inclined to maintain by current bulk by basking in the self-congratulatory haze of what I've lost so far. In short, I'm still a tubby bastard and it shouldn't end here.
This week has been pretty good, thanks largely to the insane stresses of my MA which, contrary to the visual of professionalism the term 'MA' might imply, sees me drawing a cartoon duck over and over again.
Long story.
Anyway, the real revelation came today when I took a bath for the first time in five years (don't worry, I bathe, just more of a shower man) and to my astonishment I had to add more water once I'd gotten in, previous baths in recent memory having been accompanied by the risky business of overspill once my heft had landed. I think that's what they call 'living on the edge'.
Also had a bizarre experience earlier in the week which would rule out bulimia as a possible weight loss option, aside from the obvious fact that it's a bloody foolish thing to do. While getting 2 of my five a day craftily disguised as curry, some jalfrezi went down the wrong way and as a consequence I had a coughing fit which lasted five minutes and ended in vomiting. By the end of it the area of my face around the eyes was freckled with broken blood vessels (they faded within 24 hours but it was rather disquieting). If I were ever to actually try and induce vomiting I imagine based on that experience that my eyeballs would shoot across the room.
The well-intentioned girl at the cafe (who inflicted soy on me last week) recommended a vegetable wrap today, like, just pitta and carrot and green stuff. I appreciate the gesture but I don't think I'm quite ready to take that step just yet. Also I'm a little wary as she's decided, in true barista form, to adopt an 'edgy' hairstyle which kinda looks like she made to shave it bald, then gave up and just left it shaved in patches. While I'm ordinarily not a big advocate of contrived eccentricity, she wears it well. Well, better than I would. If I turn proper veggie though, lord knows what I might end up doing to my own hair. I already look like Van Helsing with a drinking problem.
The heat in Bristol also seems to be a contributing factor to my sensible eating. It's been muggy with the occasional dose of actual sunshine and as a consequence once I've returned from my day's walking, lethargy has taken over. The act of microwaving some prepackaged MSG is too much effort, let alone preparing a giant meal or going to the store. With some skillful handling I can harness one genetic disposition - laziness - and use it to battle another, my natural gluttony.
There's a lot of rambling and ranting about a lot of unrelated nonsense in here. As it actually helps to just type something as a means of distraction I may just use this thread for that. As for my actual progress thus far, I'm another lb down from last week. I guess 1lb a week is steady enough for the time being.
Thanks again for your support

I love the post!!! You have a great mindset, which will help you tackle your weight loss goals with vigor! 1lb a week is nothing to sneeze at, remember if you're just getting started again trying to lose weight, the first few weeks frequently are the toughest to lose weight. I surmise the 1lb a week losses will soon turn to 1.5lb or 2lb a week in the near future.

I would never take food recommendations from anyone who suggests a cool glass of soy juice Please be sure to take pictures of said Barista's haircut, you have me very curious now.

[Lyman]

It's been a pretty rough couple days. Being a man of trivial concerns I rarely find myself that bothered with my state of affairs, but a rather unfortunate combination of events sort of exploded in my face recently and, not surprisingly, my thoughts turned to food as vestige. I wish I could be more proud (I certainly hope I will be in retrospect) to say that I was able to stay on 'the wagon' and not binge out on junk food - nor go out and get myself hammered. In fact, once I'd gotten over the worst of it my appetite disappeared completely, and all through this weekend I've had to remind myself to eat. Frankly it's all a little bizarre. But I guess as long as I'm keeping my mind on other things and not undereating I should see it as the silver lining of a sucky situation. When it simmers down and I pull myself together I'll have gotten a lot of work done and hopefully lost a chunk of weight.
Elsewhere my daily activities are gradually increasing. I've taken to jogging home from school (I considered jogging on the way in as well but for the sake of my other classmates I'll spare them my sweaty puffiness) which is just under a mile, and on days when I don't have to go in I devised a new routine that takes me a longer way round to the cafe and gets my distance up to four miles of walking over the course of the day. I've also taken to running on the spot which is doubtless due to all the caffeine.
My latest resolve is to completely cut out sweets (excluding light yoghurts or sometimes breakfast bars which rarely exceed 100 calories each) and I'm sticking to either water, black coffee or fruit smoothies at the cafe. As well as a nice sanctuary in which I can get work done, nobody I know goes there so it's a good place to be socially antisocial. It's also enclosed in a bookstore, which serves as a good filter for the standard of clientele (not being a snob, I just mean the abrasive 'yoofs' that tend to congregate in cafes en masse to exchange incredibly loud banalities and compete in displays of witlessness). When I have more joviality in me I'll be sure to follow up with a little more interesting detail as to my progress. My weight has maintained this week but I've gone done a belt size. Curioser and curioser...

[Obesity Discussion]

Originally Posted by Lyman

It's been a pretty rough couple days. Being a man of trivial concerns I rarely find myself that bothered with my state of affairs, but a rather unfortunate combination of events sort of exploded in my face recently and, not surprisingly, my thoughts turned to food as vestige. I wish I could be more proud (I certainly hope I will be in retrospect) to say that I was able to stay on 'the wagon' and not binge out on junk food - nor go out and get myself hammered. In fact, once I'd gotten over the worst of it my appetite disappeared completely, and all through this weekend I've had to remind myself to eat. Frankly it's all a little bizarre. But I guess as long as I'm keeping my mind on other things and not undereating I should see it as the silver lining of a sucky situation. When it simmers down and I pull myself together I'll have gotten a lot of work done and hopefully lost a chunk of weight.

Do you have any other stress relievers or hobbies you get involved in during these tougher times? Sports? Exercise? Something active where you get ouf of the house? I sometimes drink a little extra coffee and water as a means to suppress my appetite during times when I know I am going to be tempted to eat more.

Originally Posted by Lyman

Elsewhere my daily activities are gradually increasing. I've taken to jogging home from school (I considered jogging on the way in as well but for the sake of my other classmates I'll spare them my sweaty puffiness) which is just under a mile, and on days when I don't have to go in I devised a new routine that takes me a longer way round to the cafe and gets my distance up to four miles of walking over the course of the day. I've also taken to running on the spot which is doubtless due to all the caffeine.

That's a great start. That should help quite a bit. I remember in college I used to ride a bike around campus just so I could dget some exercise without getting too sweaty. The other thing I used to do was go to the school recreation center (gym) in between classes.

Originally Posted by Lyman

My latest resolve is to completely cut out sweets (excluding light yoghurts or sometimes breakfast bars which rarely exceed 100 calories each) and I'm sticking to either water, black coffee or fruit smoothies at the cafe. As well as a nice sanctuary in which I can get work done, nobody I know goes there so it's a good place to be socially antisocial. It's also enclosed in a bookstore, which serves as a good filter for the standard of clientele (not being a snob, I just mean the abrasive 'yoofs' that tend to congregate in cafes en masse to exchange incredibly loud banalities and compete in displays of witlessness). When I have more joviality in me I'll be sure to follow up with a little more interesting detail as to my progress. My weight has maintained this week but I've gone done a belt size. Curioser and curioser...

Excellent work cutting out sweets and bad drinks; be careful about fruit smooties, most are loaded with a ton of sugar and calories.

It's very conceivable this extra exercise has allowed you to put in a few pounds of muscle, all the while losing a few pounds of fat. You wouldn't see a difference on the scale, but you would trim down, and could very easily lose a belt size. I would keep up what you are doing if you're getting thinner. :scale:

[Merle]

Originally Posted by Lyman

It's been a pretty rough couple days. Being a man of trivial concerns I rarely find myself that bothered with my state of affairs, but a rather unfortunate combination of events sort of exploded in my face recently and, not surprisingly, my thoughts turned to food as vestige. I wish I could be more proud (I certainly hope I will be in retrospect) to say that I was able to stay on 'the wagon' and not binge out on junk food - nor go out and get myself hammered. In fact, once I'd gotten over the worst of it my appetite disappeared completely, and all through this weekend I've had to remind myself to eat. Frankly it's all a little bizarre. But I guess as long as I'm keeping my mind on other things and not undereating I should see it as the silver lining of a sucky situation. When it simmers down and I pull myself together I'll have gotten a lot of work done and hopefully lost a chunk of weight.
Elsewhere my daily activities are gradually increasing. I've taken to jogging home from school (I considered jogging on the way in as well but for the sake of my other classmates I'll spare them my sweaty puffiness) which is just under a mile, and on days when I don't have to go in I devised a new routine that takes me a longer way round to the cafe and gets my distance up to four miles of walking over the course of the day. I've also taken to running on the spot which is doubtless due to all the caffeine.
My latest resolve is to completely cut out sweets (excluding light yoghurts or sometimes breakfast bars which rarely exceed 100 calories each) and I'm sticking to either water, black coffee or fruit smoothies at the cafe. As well as a nice sanctuary in which I can get work done, nobody I know goes there so it's a good place to be socially antisocial. It's also enclosed in a bookstore, which serves as a good filter for the standard of clientele (not being a snob, I just mean the abrasive 'yoofs' that tend to congregate in cafes en masse to exchange incredibly loud banalities and compete in displays of witlessness). When I have more joviality in me I'll be sure to follow up with a little more interesting detail as to my progress. My weight has maintained this week but I've gone done a belt size. Curioser and curioser...

Personal life changes have an impact on me too. I find that it helps to get support from people instead of food, so I pick up the phone and call friends, family, sometimes type out a blog, etc.

I too enjoy a good drink every here and there, what do you prefer? I am a scotch woman myself (I know not many of those around)!

Congrats on losing a belt size!

[Lyman]

The last couple weeks have been a bit of an eye-opener. Apparantly I deal with (don't want to be emo so I'll emphasise minor) blues through a complete loss of appetite. In the spirit of every cloud having its silver lining it's been a kind of blessing in disguise as, now the initial 'ah crap' funk has worn off, my weight loss has been given the shot in the arm it needed. And while I no longer need to remind myself to eat at mealtimes, I'm eating far less and doing more active things to keep my mind occupied. Since my last post I've gone down 6lbs, which is a little bit too much for that period of time - but then again it may be my body getting used to the change after being somewhat lackadaisical for the last few months. So something good can come out of a rubbish situation.
A great boon to me since I posted last is this website. It's a variation on Google Earth where you can plot routes and it tells you how long the distances are. It also has the option of telling you how many calories are burned (although I think this is assuming it's a jogging route rather than a walking one).

So for example, on days when I have to go into uni I clock in about 3.3 miles walking to and from campus.

On my days off when I go into town it comes to just under 5 miles, which was a bit of a surprise. I'd figured it was closer to 4.
So to step it up I just need to devise alternate routes. Plus you can store them as saved URLs for reference.
I did a quick search for 'Google' on here and didn't find this site mentioned, so thought I'd share.

Do you have any other stress relievers or hobbies you get involved in during these tougher times?

Thankfully my MA work takes up a lot of time and is easy to get lost in. I also do some freelance design & music production work which is another mind-occupier. Of course all of these involve me sitting on my arse in front of a screen so really the most vital occupation of my time is getting out in the daylight and keeping myself on the move.
My social life has taken a bit of a knock with all of this, although that's equally down to it being the last few weeks of the academic year and most of the people I know in this town are pretty much holed up doing their own work. So I decided to take a couple vacations from Bristol and visit some other places I used to live and catch up. It was especially nice to stroll around Southampton again, I kinda wish I'd been more active back when I lived there. It's an ideal walkabout town.
Once again thank you for your thoughts and encouragement. Although I'd resolved to post more, this thing went down, and frankly the last couple weeks would've involved some very adolescent whinging had I posted. Now I've brushed myself off I'll make more of an effort.

Personal life changes have an impact on me too. I find that it helps to get support from people instead of food, so I pick up the phone and call friends, family, sometimes type out a blog, etc.

You're absolutely right there. My father is especially helpful when I call as he's not only gone through a similar weight loss endeavour, but we're so identically wired that it's essentially like having a conversation with myself in the future. Also a couple of well-intentioned friends at school have sensed something was up and been supportive without wanting to nose in. Important things to be grateful for.

I too enjoy a good drink every here and there, what do you prefer? I am a scotch woman myself (I know not many of those around)!

I'm a Jack Daniels man, which I guess is the coca cola of whiskies, still it's absolutely divine. When I'm feeling especially indulgent I'm partial to Sheridan's, which is this sickly sweet coffee/cream liqueur. Probably about 800 calories a sip but good Lord it's nice.

[Obesity Discussion]

Congratulations on the new weight loss, and that website is a great tool. Thank you so much for sharing it with us Lyman! You are on the right track with the exercise and eating...keep it up!

[Lyman]

Well it's been a long time since an update due to most of June being engulfed in ridiculous amounts of work and most of July seeing me in an internetless Laurentian forest, but I'm back in the flooded civilisation that is the UK and ready to become a shut-in again!
While my weight loss itself has slowed to a crawl again, I've found that my clothes get baggier and my belts demand extra holes punched into them periodically. Furthermore, I've gone from a US XL to a UK XL (for whatever reason XL is a smaller size in the UK) without the material clinging to my body and making me look like an oversized gastropod. I imagine this is due to more muscle being built up now that my activity levels are far higher. I've nearly lost all that pillowcaseyness to my upper arms and, while my thighs aren't all that 'mastered' there's definitely an increase in actual solid muscle beneath the remaining flab.
In an odd psychological thingamebob, I've found myself getting more self-conscious of my appearance as I incrementally slim down than I ever was when I was at my largest. My graduallly receding gut just seems to make my unsavoury conical man-boobs look bigger, and instead of unearthing a smouldering lothario beneath my head-fat I'm more and more concerned that my face will wind up gaunt and goofy-looking. Plus I recently saw some video footage of myself which was very disheartening:
That it's taken a year and a half of work to wind up still looking like this is quite sobering. A lot of words of congratulations from people I haven't seen in a while have perhaps gone to my head, and in a case of reverse-body dysmorphia I think I'd convinced myself I was far slimmer. Still, it's all fuel for the fire.
So all in all, that August deadline ain't gonna happen, but if I can show up to the wedding sporting a chin (singular) and a suit small enough so that it doesn't make me look like a hitman I'll be happy.
Am thinking of compiling some of my food 'recipes' and posting them up here at some point if they're of any interest
Good to be back
-L

[Obesity Discussion]

Originally Posted by Lyman

Well it's been a long time since an update due to most of June being engulfed in ridiculous amounts of work and most of July seeing me in an internetless Laurentian forest, but I'm back in the flooded civilisation that is the UK and ready to become a shut-in again!
While my weight loss itself has slowed to a crawl again, I've found that my clothes get baggier and my belts demand extra holes punched into them periodically. Furthermore, I've gone from a US XL to a UK XL (for whatever reason XL is a smaller size in the UK) without the material clinging to my body and making me look like an oversized gastropod. I imagine this is due to more muscle being built up now that my activity levels are far higher. I've nearly lost all that pillowcaseyness to my upper arms and, while my thighs aren't all that 'mastered' there's definitely an increase in actual solid muscle beneath the remaining flab.
In an odd psychological thingamebob, I've found myself getting more self-conscious of my appearance as I incrementally slim down than I ever was when I was at my largest. My graduallly receding gut just seems to make my unsavoury conical man-boobs look bigger, and instead of unearthing a smouldering lothario beneath my head-fat I'm more and more concerned that my face will wind up gaunt and goofy-looking. Plus I recently saw some video footage of myself which was very disheartening:
That it's taken a year and a half of work to wind up still looking like this is quite sobering. A lot of words of congratulations from people I haven't seen in a while have perhaps gone to my head, and in a case of reverse-body dysmorphia I think I'd convinced myself I was far slimmer. Still, it's all fuel for the fire.
So all in all, that August deadline ain't gonna happen, but if I can show up to the wedding sporting a chin (singular) and a suit small enough so that it doesn't make me look like a hitman I'll be happy.
Am thinking of compiling some of my food 'recipes' and posting them up here at some point if they're of any interest
Good to be back
-L

Welcome back to civilization!! We missed your elloquent posts! I wouldn't focus so much on the number on the scale because it seems you are putting on a little bit of muscle, and of course muscle weighs more than fat. You seem to be dropping a size or so in clothes and looking better, which tells me you are on the right track!

I'd love for you to post up some of your recipes, we have a special forum just for members' personal recipe suggestions. I think you are more aware of your appearance partially because it keeps changing. Before the weight loss started you were probably used to the way you were. Maybe you are now holding a higher standard for yourself regarding the way you look? Who knows (maybe you do )?

Be sure to wear dark sunglasses with slicked back hair while carrying a large violin case to the wedding, and post up pictures of Gangster Lyman.

[Lyman]

The infrequency of my blog updates pretty much represents the plateau I've been on over the summer. I'm chalking some of it down to muscle being developed while fat is being lost, as I'm definitely getting smaller (at the moment my trousers are 38, at the beginning of June they were 42) and my arms and legs are getting harder. However I've had some problems with self-discipline that I'm not going to deny, not on this forum at least. In the last two weeks I've really gotten back into the swing of eating properly, something I did habitually all through 2006 but have had trouble sticking to since January.
The original motivator was to be thin by the wedding in August, and that didn't pan out as I'm still a long ways off my goal. All things considered though I'm glad that this guy showed up...

(pic taken at the wedding last month, roughly 206lbs)

...as opposed to this guy:

(pic taken at Glastonbury 2004, probably my most bloated at around 320lbs)

So now that's been and gone I'm not sure what next to shoot for. With the initial health concerns no longer an issue the urgency is gone, and I don't see any big reunions on the horizon where me showing up thin would turn any heads. An unnerving, adolescent part of my brain keeps piping up and suggesting I carry on for the attention of a gir