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[recipher]

Just missed my first interim target of 19st 7 lbs for Christmas (I got to 19st 8lbs) but have put a few on over Xmas. My next interim target is 18st by Easter.

Good luck.

[Matt]

Nothing wrong with protein supplements, as Recipher says. Much cheaper and easier than cooking steak and chicken all day! To build proper muscle the protein requirements are huge.

[gunrock]

Nothing wrong with protein supplements, as Recipher says. Much cheaper and easier than cooking steak and chicken all day! To build proper muscle the protein requirements are huge.

Yeah, but you've hit the nail on the head. What the **** is the stuff made of and is that better for you than steak and chicken?

PS: Thanks Recipher for thw words of encouragement.

[recipher]

It's a supplement, so as long as you keep eating a normal diet, then you'll be ok. If that was all that you were eating, then it'd be a problem (and boring).

It's whey (the protein supplement) which is a natural byproduct from the making of cheese and milk.

Yep, every luck with the weight loss. My cousin is a big laddie (much heavier than 19st) and he doesn't seem to want to deal with it, despite having numerous health issues (I believe). But, I'd imagine that starting to eat less/properly and doing some/any exercise is v. difficult when you are heavy. I know how hard it can be to get moving on a training programme, and I'm not overweight.

So, keep it up! If you want any advice, you know where to come!

[Commander Marklar]

Yeah, but you've hit the nail on the head. What the **** is the stuff made of and is that better for you than steak and chicken?

Protein is the number one source of amino acids, used by your body to repair and build muscle. Our bodies make so many (6 IIRC) but we require the other from protein intake; food, glorius food. Meats tend to have a lot of fat (turkey and chiken being the leanest of meat... well, fowl) and if you have a large dietary intake making up the protein gains is difficult without added supplements. Or maybe you just don't like meat. For example, another protein source, eggs have got all the essential amino acids you need but you'd have to eat about 12 a day to get a 'regular' intake of protein... you fancy that, do you?

Cycled to work today... weeeee, wind right up my arse I tell you. Not so great on the way back but I also did my upper body routine at lunch time. Feels great, like I had a proper workout. I think I'll take a day off tomorrow, do it again Thursday.

There's a bloke at work who's fairly large and has decided his health issues are enough, decided to loose some weight so he went for a fitness assessment like, health and safety. But he's found it's really difficult, has extremely high blood pressure ('cos of the weight) so was sent to a Doctor to figure out how best to loose the baggage. He can't do any proper exercise for fear that he'd do himself more harm than good. Bugger only lives 2 miles from work, I'm surprised they didn't tell him to walk in or something but it's a shame 'cos he just uses the blood pressure as an excuse NOT to do anything now. It never occurred to me that someone overweight might not be able to actually do any exercise.

[Ish]

Had a great lifting session tonight. Only did 40 minutes but I really pushed it and had very little rest.

I know it was a good session because I can't life my arms now

[Matt]

Just like to go a little further in the protein explanation. All proteins are not created equally, the makeup of the AA (amino acids) makes a huge difference, as does their bio-readibility (I think that's the word!). Basically, something like eggs are good as you can use all their protein.

Whey is the BEST protein in many respects. Quickly digests - not just because it's liquid, but because of the AA makeup. It's also great for building muscle.

The fact it digests quickly also works against it. That's why, if you can, consider mixing whey with micellar casein protein. Not only does it slow digestion right down (casein clots in the stomach, proving a steady flow of AAs), it also makes drinks nice and creamy

Lots of people dismiss supplements, tarnishing them with the same brush as steroids. Couldn't be further from the truth. I've always seen supplements as something you can get naturally from your diet if you eat enough of a specific item.

With my daily protein intake, a few shakes (well 5 or more a day) is much better than 10 chicken breasts.

[gunrock]

There's a bloke at work who's fairly large and has decided his health issues are enough, decided to loose some weight so he went for a fitness assessment like, health and safety. But he's found it's really difficult, has extremely high blood pressure ('cos of the weight) so was sent to a Doctor to figure out how best to loose the baggage. He can't do any proper exercise for fear that he'd do himself more harm than good. Bugger only lives 2 miles from work, I'm surprised they didn't tell him to walk in or something but it's a shame 'cos he just uses the blood pressure as an excuse NOT to do anything now. It never occurred to me that someone overweight might not be able to actually do any exercise.

Yeah, I was almost 21 stone and when I bought our new house last year, I hada medical for some life assurance and found out my blood pressure was very high. I tried to lose weight and got some off but during a stressful stretch of working long-hours put most of it back on (poor diet, irregular meals etc).

My specialist has now put me on a second bp medication because the first wasn't reducing it enough (which he told me would probably happen, to be fair). Being put on one medication and being told that the bp has caused some strain on one wall of my heart, was more than enough to motivate me. The second just steels my resolve. Now I'm down to around 19st 11lbs (having put 3 - 4lbs on over Xmas, not bad condiering I was off work until 8/1/07 and not very active) and I'm targetting 18st by Easter.

When I met my wife 13 years ago, I was 13.5 stone, worked out 3-4 times a week. The weight just creeps on over the years. You know you're overeating or eating the wrong foods but the change is gradual enough, one trouser size at a time, for it to be easy enough to ignore. Nobody gets to 20st overnight.

Thanks to Recipher, Chain and Cmdr Marklar for the supplements explanation. Actually 12 eggs would be okay, but I'd eat them hard-boiled and probably wouldn't **** for a week!

[Matt]

Good luck mate. We'll all support you! I used to be 17stone of fat. I started losing weight first by cutting out bad food - pizza and burgers were gone, only having one very occassionaly (once a month type of thing). Then crisps got replaced by those corn snack things. Biggest change was dropping cheese entirely. I love extra mature cheddar, but it gets me fat quick. Chocolate had to go as well. My point is, over time I dropped the crap from my diet.

I think too many people try to make a big life-style change overnight, and I don't think that's a good idea. It's too much too soon, you'll slip up back to your old ways. Try and drop something crap every week or two, and eventually you'll be eating well.

Oh and NEVER skip meals! If anything, eat more often

[Commander Marklar]

Amen to that! The bird over the road tried exactly that, she put loads on really quickly and I explained it all to here like but it went straight over her head. She didn't take one bit of advice I gave her so told her to go see of professional which upset her a bit but that's not my problem.

Hey gunrock mate, best of luck man. You found the thread so just drop by and drop the blog-bomb whenever you feel like it

[Nijo]

Biggest change was dropping cheese entirely.

I imagine that would be my major hurdle... cheese is almost part of my staple diet.

Oh, I have a friend that got his weight down from 20+ stone by playing DDR. Obviously that's starting out with the easy tracks, but it was all about getting up and moving. If you're a gamer and get into DDR it's the kind of thing you can do for ages at a time without getting bored.

[Ish]

I'm another one who would struggle without my cheese. Cheese in all its different glorious flavours and smells. Oh man. Yeah I'd struggle going cold turkey on that. I'm getting a craving just typing about it.

The rest of the stuff... crisps... chocolate... yeah no problem. If its in the house I'll eat it but I solve that problem quite easily by not buying it.

Oh and good luck gunrock. Keep us informed as to how you're getting on.

[charlesr]

Always have to have a safety bar nearby. Chocolate bar

Tomorrow will be a rest day. It should have been today though, but I went to the gym anyway. Couldn't do ANYTHING Did as much as I could anyway and then ending up chatting to people instead....

[Nijo]

I skipped off work and went this afternoon... JUST missed out on my 'establish a base level of fitness' target: 11.3km on the bike in 15mins (target 12km). Doesn't feel bad as I wasn't expecting to hit it yet anyway... hopefully I can nail it next time then mix in some targets for the things I'm less good at.

[Nijo]

Oh yeah, and then afterwards I ate 2x M&S giant cookies.