[Marricked]

*** Diet completed please see last post for latest update - keeping thread open to refer to in future ***

Basically I've decided I want to lose weight for good, and stay fit. I've got a terrible metabolism and my weight has yoyo'ed since I was a little kid. I'm 5 foot 11 and when I left school 4 years ago I weighed around 12 stone, was quite athletic and played rugby regularly. I then met alcohol, nights out and girls and things went all wrong. Since then my weight has yoyo'ed between 13 stone and 15 stone. Also important to add my doctor has done all the necessary tests to ensure there isn't something behind my poor metabolism - all tests have came back clear.

I got really motivated 2 weeks ago, weighed myself at exactly 14 stone, and since then I have lost half a stone already. I now want to make a log so I can track how well I'm doing. Before I started I went to the doctors and had a full check up to ensure I was fully fit and healthy - as I was about to start an extreme diet. I'm on about 500-600 calories a day, and burning around 400 calories daily on the cross trainer in the gym. I plan on doing this a further two weeks before I up my calorie intake to 1000 calories and introduce weight training to my routine.

I know it's not healthy but it's a relatively short term measure. I eat healthily as it is but my portion sizes and alcohol have prevented me from losing weight in the past - this diet has sorted out my portion size problem and I have dramatically cut down on my alcohol consumption. Like I said I'm just keeping this as a log for my personal use and possibly for other people to see and use as motivation, so not looking for people to patronise me on how dangerously unhealthy this diet is as I'm fully aware and have made an informed decision to go ahead with it.

Start date: 31/04/2012
Start weight: 90kg

Log:
31/04/2012 = 90kg
13/05/2012 = 84.3kg - Noticeable weight loss. Being told by friends and family I look slimmer. Noticing some clothes are feeling a bit more baggy on me.
18/05/2012 = 83.6kg
30/05/2012 = 81.9kg - Finally under 13 stone. Starting to look much better for the weight loss - over the last 2 weeks I have been on a few lads days away and drinking in general a lot more, but still sticking to my diet on my days off and fortunately still managed to lose some weight. I have also increased my calorie intake to about 750-800 calories a day. I have started to introduce doing some weight training as well now and taking creatine/protein. I'm expecting my weight loss to really slow down now as I'll be building up muscle too - but hopefully I'll still continue looking better for it.
23/07/2012 = 78.9kg - Finally hit under 12 and a half stone! Increased calories now and have been doing weight and resistance training for quite some time.
03/12/2012 = 79kg - A lot more toned than in July yet the same weight. Lost a lot of fat.

Just goes to show even though admittedly probably not the best thing for some people crash diets can sometimes work. I've completely revamped the way I eat and think of food, learnt to cook numerous healthy recipes and actually enjoy it. I've experimented to see what exercises I enjoy to keep me focused and it all seems to be working really well. I'm please I did it the way I did because if I didn't see sudden results like I did I think I'd have been demoralised very quickly and gave up - basically I think different methods suit different people better.

Going to use this as a general log now to monitor my weight in the run up to summer.

[wateva]

a log is good idea. but your current and future calorie intake is stupid. i would suggest eating more than 500-600 calories a day. if your body isn't getting the minimum required calories it will go into fat storing mode as it will think you're starving yourself (which you are).

[somethingbeautiful]

You're starving your body and your weight will pile back on when you start eating properly again.

[intermediary]

It's good that you want to improve your health but with a daily net calorie intake of 100-200 calories, you're not going to do that.
Believe me, I'm far from one of the advocates of a 'below 1200 calories will kill you, don't do it!' way of thinking but seriously, netting 100-200 calories is really unhealthy.
If you're going to eat 500-600 a day regardless, it's best to cut the exercise as with such a huge calorie deficit you're going to lose muscle mass like crazy. Less muscle means a lower metabolism which means it's much, much easier to gain weight. So, you'll end your diet having reached goal weight, decide to have 1000 cals and gain. Seriously think about cutting the exercise on this sort of 'diet' unless you want to lose muscle as opposed to fat. As I said before, less muscle = slower metabolism = weight gain.
Also, you will binge, believe me. That diet isn't sustainable without a binge. Which is why people with eating disorders get stuck in the loop of restricting/fasting, binging then purging.

[Dmon1Unlimited]

(Original post by Marricked)
Start date: 31/04/2012
Start weight: 90kg
Current weight: 86kg (as of 12/05/2012)
Goal weight: 80kg and beyond.
Ultimate goal: 75kg with majority of weight being muscle mass.

Log:
31/04/2012 = 90kg
13/05/2012 = 84.3kg - Noticeable weight loss. Being told by friends and family I look slimmer. Noticing some clothes are feeling a bit more baggy on me.

interesting, my current weight is similar to what your starting weight was and we are similar-ish in height...
at 84.3kg, do you think youll stop losing weight at 75 or earlier based on your progress? im at 92 (originally 102/4), was contemplating having my goal at 70/75kg but i heard from another user that this may be very thin...

calories look a bit small but congrats for the weight loss anyway...

[RoyalStudent]

RUN

[Marricked]

Hi guys.

This is just an extreme way of giving myself a head start on the route to a much healthier lifestyle. I am hoping to increase the amount of exercise I get as I increase on my calories, so as I up my calories I hopefully wont put on weight.

And Dmon1Unlimited,

I've started to hit that barrier where the weight loss starts dramatically slowing now, I'll weigh myself tomorrow morning and update the log to let you know what I've lost over the last few days. I'd say 70kg will be very hard to reach but if you make it a long term goal it is achievable. On the diet I'm on now I'm definitely going to double my calorie intake once I hit 80kg, and increase the exercise. The final 5-10kg will be a long term goal, once I'm at 80kg I'll be happy with how I appear.

How I'm feeling:
Despite the low calorie intake I seem to have quite a lot of energy still. Surprisingly, I find it much easier to do 45 minutes on the cross trainer now despite having been on an extremely low calorie intake for the last 2 and a half weeks, than I did when I first started out. Feeling much better in general about myself too.

[Marricked]

Weight today:

18/05/2012 = 83.6kg

[Marricked]

30/05/2012 = 81.9kg - Finally under 13 stone. Starting to look much better for the weight loss - over the last 2 weeks I have been on a few lads days away and drinking in general a lot more, but still sticking to my diet on my days off and fortunately still managed to lose some weight. I have also increased my calorie intake to about 750-800 calories a day. I have started to introduce doing some weight training as well now and taking creatine/protein. I'm expecting my weight loss to really slow down now as I'll be building up muscle too - but hopefully I'll still continue looking better for it.

[Marricked]

Cheers for your constructive criticism, I'm sure you'll go far in life.

[StarsAreFixed]

Id have to agree that I think your diet is unsustainable. Your body is trying to conserve fat. If you cut to 1800 calories and did exercise then over time you would get maintain a lower weight better. Your current diet is waiting for you to slip up, it might end up being yoyo and in the meantime, your body is under a lot of strain to function normally.

[Marricked]

Like I said I'm increasing calories slowly and increasing exercise/introducing weights. I'm looking much much thinner and still have muscle mass around my shoulders/arms, feel fine and still full of motivation. Still living a decent lifestyle and not missing out on any social events too - just going to keep at it. Either way, this is bad for my body, but so was having a BMI indicating I was almost obese. I just don't have the will power for a "slow and gradual" diet - I need to see results to keep me going.

[pi=3]

(Original post by Marricked)
Cheers for your constructive criticism, I'm sure you'll go far in life.

thank you, I sure will

[Marricked]

I haven't posted any updates for a while.

23/07/2012 - 78.9kg

Finally hit under 12 and a half stone! Increased calories now and have been doing weight and resistance training for quite some time now.

[Marricked]

Just to update - 4 months or so on from my last post I have maintained the weight, toned up and lost more fat - on a healthy diet now following learning numerous recipes which are ideal for keeping off the weight and training.

Overall I'm pleased I made the most of being motivated and doing it the way I did!