Post a Picture of Yourself!

JDR13 said:

Genetics most definitely have a lot to do with bodyweight and metabolism. That doesn't mean a standard diet + excercise won't work, but it takes longer for some people than it does for others.

Click to expand...

Yes. Another risk factor seems to be overweight during childhood, because that affects the number of fat cells in your body.

fatBastard() said:

The distance is 25 kilometers each way so the total is about 150 kilometers a week and the pace is around 30 Km/h, so while it is not exactly a Tour de France pace, it is enough to make me sweat like a pig. On top of that I've also gotten back into the routine of lifting weights 2-3 times a week over the past 6 weeks.

The result? Zilch. Bop-kiss. I've not lost so much as a single pound these past 6 weeks and while I've not (yet) been strictly following the Weight Consultants diet, I have been following the general guidelines (no sugar, lots of vegetables, etc).

Click to expand...

Have you kept track of your BMI/fat loss though? With that kind of training it doesn't really surprise me that you haven't lost any weight. Fat is lighter than muscle and with that sort of workout you will be gaining muscle considerably so any weight loss (in fat) will be countered by a weight gain (in muscle). If you have kept a diet then I'm sure that you have lost quite a bit of fat. It just doesn't show on the scales (yet) as you are building up muscle. Depending on how much of a "fat cover" you have it may not show in the mirror just yet either since your new muscles are hidden by the fat. But I'm sure that if you stick with it then the progress will show soonish.
Six weeks is not really that long. To make it easier for yourself to tell a difference maybe do it like Jemy (or John Stone) and take "nekkid" pics of yourself, then compare them every four weeks or so. Then you should be able to see that you have become more "fit" even though you may not have lost a lot of weight.

Moriendor said:

Have you kept track of your BMI/fat loss though? With that kind of training it doesn't really surprise me that you haven't lost any weight. Fat is lighter than muscle and with that sort of workout you will be gaining muscle considerably so any weight loss (in fat) will be countered by a weight gain (in muscle). If you have kept a diet then I'm sure that you have lost quite a bit of fat. It just doesn't show on the scales (yet) as you are building up muscle. Depending on how much of a "fat cover" you have it may not show in the mirror just yet either since your new muscles are hidden by the fat. But I'm sure that if you stick with it then the progress will show soonish.
Six weeks is not really that long. To make it easier for yourself to tell a difference maybe do it like Jemy (or John Stone) and take "nekkid" pics of yourself, then compare them every four weeks or so. Then you should be able to see that you have become more "fit" even though you may not have lost a lot of weight.

Click to expand...

Not an accurate measurement of my BMI but I can't feel any difference in the tightness of the pants or the size of the love handles so far.

Just to make it clear: I didn't start riding my bike or start exercising again with the purpose of losing weight. (I've been through that disappointment before when I really need to lose a lot of weight back in 2004 and I know that only a strict diet works for me). No, I started exercising again because I like it and in fact I can think of few better ways to wake up in the morning than getting on the bike and pedal away til the blood is pumping.

However, if weight loss HAD been my purpose, I would be sorely disappointed by zero results after 6 weeks of "hardish" work. I may slowly start to lose weight from now on, but compared to the diet I went on back in 2004 I would already have lost around 6 kilos in the same time (25 kilos in 6 months is roughly a kilo a week - faster at first more slowly towards the end). Of course I don't need to lose 25 kilos at this point, only somewhere between 5 and 10 kilos, but still: Exercise is great and is highly recommended for keeping your weight from rising, but for quick weight loss, a proper diet beats exercise hands down every time ... at least in my case.

If a slow metabolic rate is such an important factor, then maybe we can point to the US as, somehow, suffering an obesity epidemic due to that - and a country like Japan somehow the opposite?

I've been suffering from overweight A LOT in my youth, and I'm not trying to bring anyone down. I know all about what it means to not be happy with your body.

That said, naturally it's a factor that can't be ignored - but from my experience, it's generally a crutch people who are overweight use, to excuse themselves from putting forth the effort.

That's sad, because I want people to be happy - and I want them to enjoy their bodies.

I can't prove that, though, and if this metabolism thing is REALLY the reason - then I'm sorry, and I hope those suffering can forgive me for being an ass. But I think they'd do well to be ABSOLUTELY certain of it. Counting calories with precision, is one such way to be reasonably certain.

About the opposite, as in people who CAN'T gain weight - well, the case is the same.

I have a good friend (my best friend, really) who has ALWAYS been thin. Very thin. He keeps going on about not being able to gain weight.

Also, when he visits me - I always make sure to stuff him with junk food and candy, and he eats heartily. So, the natural conclusion is that it's true, he CAN'T gain weight, right?

No, because his daily routine is completely different from that. First of all, he's EXTREMELY active. He has five children and he has no car. He goes on his old bicycle EVERYWHERE - and I'm not kidding. The man is on the move all the time. Also, at home - they eat nothing but god damn vegetables and what I consider the most horribly boring and spartan food. He's the sort of guy who "forgets" to eat, he claims. In our youth (well, 10-15 years ago) - he basically lived off nothing, and his calories during the day came from nothing but the sugar in his coffee.

Fast metabolism? Bullshit. You don't gain weight by eating junk-food once in a while, or because you stuff your face with candy when in the company of others.

You gain weight by CONSISTENTLY eating more than you burn, and if you're the active kind - you need to eat all the damn time to get results.

The math seems solid, just like I'm sure you actually CAN move the world if I provide a lever big enough ... however, I can't produce a lever that size so the matter stays "unresolved".

It's been more than 25 years since I last used butter on my bread. I don't eat candy more than 2-3 times a year, including Christmas (I'm not exaggerating). I haven't had any sugar in my house for the past 6 years. I've always been almost obsessively meticulous about cutting off any fat edges on meat (e.g. pork chops). Even when I'm not strictly following my diet, I'm still using only a minimum amount of fatty ingredients in my food. I always "dry fry" my meat (no oil or butter or whatnot). Until my diet I've always eaten the same amount of food or LESS than everyone I knew.

... and still I gain weight if I'm not careful.

I'm not saying I can't lose weight, because I can. As I've said before, I dropped 25 kilos in 2004/2005 and a few kilos here and there since then. However, I also know that unless my metabolic rate can somehow be changed, I will have to be eternally vigilant about what I eat just to maintain my weight. And yes, I DO gain weight by eating junk food occasionally or by stuffing my face with candy. Sure, I can't gain more than I eat and there is a limit to how much one can eat in one sitting.

I talked about this discussion with my mother yesterday and she told me that she had her metabolism measured a few years ago and the result was in the low end. Within "normal" parameters but in the low end of the scale, which fits fine with how we've always had problems maintaining our weight but still being far from obesity levels.

Having been in this situation for all my life it is as evident to me as 2 + 2 equals 4 that our genes control (to a large extent) how well our bodies is able to process the food we ingest. Some people can eat whatever they like while others constantly have to be careful lest they blow up like a balloon.

fatBastard() said:

The math seems solid, just like I'm sure you actually CAN move the world if I provide a lever big enough … however, I can't produce a lever that size so the matter stays "unresolved".

It's been more than 25 years since I last used butter on my bread. I don't eat candy more than 2-3 times a year, including Christmas (I'm not exaggerating). I haven't had any sugar in my house for the past 6 years. I've always been almost obsessively meticulous about cutting off any fat edges on meat (e.g. pork chops). Even when I'm not strictly following my diet, I'm still using only a minimum amount of fatty ingredients in my food. I always "dry fry" my meat (no oil or butter or whatnot). Until my diet I've always eaten the same amount of food or LESS than everyone I knew.

… and still I gain weight if I'm not careful.

I'm not saying I can't lose weight, because I can. As I've said before, I dropped 25 kilos in 2004/2005 and a few kilos here and there since then. However, I also know that unless my metabolic rate can somehow be changed, I will have to be eternally vigilant about what I eat just to maintain my weight. And yes, I DO gain weight by eating junk food occasionally or by stuffing my face with candy. Sure, I can't gain more than I eat and there is a limit to how much one can eat in one sitting.

I talked about this discussion with my mother yesterday and she told me that she had her metabolism measured a few years ago and the result was in the low end. Within "normal" parameters but in the low end of the scale, which fits fine with how we've always had problems maintaining our weight but still being far from obesity levels.

Having been in this situation for all my life it is as evident to me as 2 + 2 equals 4 that our genes control (to a large extent) how well our bodies is able to process the food we ingest. Some people can eat whatever they like while others constantly have to be careful lest they blow up like a balloon.

Click to expand...

It certainly sounds like you have a real issue with your metabolism.

But it also seems, to me, like you're focusing on the KIND of food you can eat, which is actually a bit of a mistake. Naturally, fat/sugar/alcohol are the worst kinds of calories - but it actually doesn't matter at all, WHAT kind of calories you eat, if we ignore the health issue for a while.

You can overeat ANYTHING - even vegetables (though that's EXTREMELY hard to do).

If you count calories in what you eat currently and report back, then it would help to nail the issue down.

Lots of people think they can "estimate" in their head what they eat, and they think that by avoiding junk-food and candy - they avoid gaining weight. Naturally, this will be the case for most people - but not everyone.

However, I'll apologize ahead of time - if it turns out you're not overeating when gaining weight. As in, according to the standard formulas.

All I'm doing is trying to help you, because I've been there myself.

Beyond that, it's key to be REASONABLY active. So, though I said excersice is not important, it's still necessary to actually burn the calories. If you sit down all day long, that will be increasingly hard.

Just taking a one hour walk, 3 times a week minimum - WILL help greatly in the long run.

Heh. Just read in the paper today: The University Hospital here in Bergen is about to start a new study to try out reducing the risk of type 2 diabetes and possibly weigt reduction in overweights using cod protein (There are indications that cod protein increases the sensitivity to Insuline, and experiments on rats has shown reduction in body fat). You can't just transfer these results to humans. But the croblem is: They can't get enough overweight people for the study. They need 60 adults with BMI>25. Advertisement in newspapers have been unsuccessful.

Wouldn't it be nice if there were less than 59 overweight persons apart from me among the 250 000 inhabitants Bergen? Unfortunately …..

...ummm, pictures ?

I did quite a bit of research on the subject due to steadily increasing weight and several failed attempts at losing it. That research paid off & helped me lose roughly 60 lbs & keep the weight steady.

The core of weight loss is definitely the calorie deficit. No question about it. But there's more to it than that. Some people will find that by eating less, instead of burning fat they will simply have less energy. From what I found it is due in great part to insulin resistance. Sugar and fat (fatty acids) don't make it into the cells for consumption (uptake). The fat is released, but fails to be used and gets stored again.

Exercise doesn't have the same effect for everyone & from what I've read it is due to muscle type. Red muscle cells (slow twitch - used for endurance efforts) burn fat and white muscle cells (fast twitch - used for speed / strength movements) burn sugar that they store as glycogen. People with a high predominance of white muscle cells tend to be chunky and have lower fat burning capabilities for lack of mitochondria (that's where lipolysis takes place and red cells have heaps more than white cells).

There are other important factors such as dehydration. Water is needed for peripheral lipolysis (breaking fat down into fatty acids that will then be released & burned for energy). Hence the 'drink a lot of water rule'. It won't make you lose weight but lacking water will slow down the process.

Then there are some endocrinal factors. Leptin secretion for instance slows with dieting. Having a weekly 'cheat day' reactivates it.

I focused on insulin resistance and drinking water (2-3 karate classes a week for exercise, but I had always been doing that and on its own it did little for weight management). Insulin resistance is caused by frequent and high insulin peaks over the years. As I understand it it is basically due to developping an immunity to insulin because the pancreas becomes too effective at secreting it. A slow carb diet with a few supplements can put an end to that by stopping the peaks and letting things get back to normal. Supplements include chromium, magnesium, omega-3s, vitamin D.

Exercise helps by causing an increase of glucose receptors in muscle cells, therefore improving uptake capacity.

This approach has several advantages. The first is that if IR is preventing you from losing weight, no other approach may work (except the very low calorie diet but I never had that kind of willpower and ketosis is said to be dangerous). Once IR is back under control, keeping the weight becomes much, much easier. The second is that hunger is curbed by steady intake and slow carbs provide that steadiness.

I wrote that in more detail on my old blog. There's also lots of other junk as the result of my investigating various subjects... Use with caution

http://www.2-0.biz/strength/weight-loss

Well, what can I say. Nice picture of an undead (makes me want to play wow again). But feeling that way.. ouch. Headaches?

Hope things get better. Soon.

EDIT: Only the first picture was available when I wrote my first reply. The second one doesn't seem quite as undead.

Thank you. I feel frustrated, helpless, useless and pretty rotten, but at least things get instantly better when I look at my guys (if just for a short while).
Things will get better.
They always do.

The second pic better describes the aggro side of things, I guess... like I felt this afternoon.

With such a moderators, no wounder we have so few troll problems

Trolls will be eaten without remorse.

I like the pics Jaz, especially how your appearance clashes with the setting.

And the boots are totally baddass.

Found myself on Google Street View...

Hehe, that's cool! But where's your cowl?

Cowl? There is nothing monk-like about me. ed: or maybe a Lexx reference?

Google Street View is a little eerie. It's like a snapshot in time of the whole world. Pretty fun traveling around sightseeing.

*edited because of content. If you want to see it, you can find it in my next post, in spoiler tags. Be warned, there is a bit of fake blood.

too tasteless to post right now.

You are thinking about the incident in Norway? I'm sorry, I did not think about that when I posted it. It was just my halloween costume. I'll remove the picture from my last post and put it inside spoiler tags here, so that those who don't feel like they want to see such a picture have to do that. There is a fare bit of fake blood and I'm wearing my labcoat.