How I Lost 13 lbs This Month

[G8RBrave]

Yeah protein shakes are essentially a meal substitute for me. Quick and easy.

[JohnC1908]

If you are not drinking whey after your workouts you are losing a lot of gains. Yeah, don't live off them...but they are extremely beneficial.

[Dreamliner]

Eat fewer calories than you burn off ... however you're comfortable doing that.

Protein requirements are exaggerated ... perhaps vastly so. And if you're trying to lose weight, protein shakes may be counterproductive.

Get in lots of leisurely walking. It's something you can do a lot of without taxing your energy reserves.

[chrisleakfan4life]

Originally Posted by Dreamliner

Eat fewer calories than you burn off ... however you're comfortable doing that.

Protein requirements are exaggerated ... perhaps vastly so. And if you're trying to lose weight, protein shakes may be counterproductive.

Get in lots of leisurely walking. It's something you can do a lot of without taxing your energy reserves.

I'm on a 1200 calorie a day diet, equals about 2 pounds a week in weight loss, 8 pounds a month(when you do the math). It's considered healthy weight loss.

I do some exercise, but nothing like what these guys do. I imagine if i did, i would burn fat much faster.

[LeafUF]

Originally Posted by Dreamliner

Eat fewer calories than you burn off ... however you're comfortable doing that.

Protein requirements are exaggerated ... perhaps vastly so. And if you're trying to lose weight, protein shakes may be counterproductive.

Get in lots of leisurely walking. It's something you can do a lot of without taxing your energy reserves.

How?

[gatorcop]

Brave, I am 5'9", 204 lbs., and 15% bodyfat. I am trying to figure out 24% at 174 lbs.

Good job on the weight loss.

[G8RBrave]

I'm using calipers to determine body fat, so there's a chance I've overestimated what I am. However, I followed the instructions pretty clearly, and I did have a lot of unwanted fat hanging around.

Believe it or not "skinny" people can have quite a bit of unwanted fat. People still look at me strange when I say I'm trying to drop some weight. The truth really is I'm trying to lower my body fat percentage, I don't really care what my weight is. Though, it is nice to say I've dropped 13 lbs.

[LeafUF]

Compare lean body mass and its pretty easy to see. Cop, you have more muscle that's all. Funny thing is you are obese and Brave is the healthy one.

[GatoRella]

Brave where do you get those calipers at?

I am 5'9", around 150 lbs, 29-30i'' waist and I am kinda curious what percentage body fat I have. Like you, the only fat I have in my body is in my belly, which isn't a whole lot but it is enough to drive me to push on!

When I started working out I was 189lbs that was about 2.5 years ago, and I had no clue how to work out. I just started running because that's what made the most sense(at the time). I was running like 20 miles a week, and losing weight really slowly. And then thanks to the great advice from our pubsters, I started doing strength/circuit training, and less cardio. That seemed to work out well for me so now I do circuits and HIIT cardio, along with a healthy diet.

I also don't really care what my weight is either, it is more of body composition. I am at the point now where I don't really want to lose more weight to be honest, I just want to look more "cut".

I guess I need to lift more? Protein shakes?

[G8RBrave]

Originally Posted by LeafUF

Compare lean body mass and its pretty easy to see. Cop, you have more muscle that's all. Funny thing is you are obese and Brave is the healthy one.

That's why BMI is really a useless number, IMO. If you're 5'8 and 175 lbs, but 5% body fat, BMI says you are overweight. Ridiculous.

[ForsythCoGator]

Originally Posted by gatorcop

Brave, I am 5'9", 204 lbs., and 15% bodyfat. I am trying to figure out 24% at 174 lbs.

Good job on the weight loss.

Stay away from the donut shop! LOL!!

[G8RBrave]

Rella, I picked up a set of cheap calipers at GNC. Don't trust body fat scales. I weighed Sunday morning one time and it told me I was 28% body fat, then turned around 10 seconds later and told me I was 14%.

Calipers aren't perfect (the only really good way of finding out body fat % is hydrostatic weighting) but I think they are far better than the body fat scales.

[LeafUF]

Calipers

If you are really curious and want to track muscle gains and fat losses I would pick up the myotape and a pair of calipers.

Like Brave said they aren't perfect, really you just want the measurements going down if your goal is losing fat.

I have a really cheap pair as well and I dont really track my percentage but the actual measurement, if it stays the same or goes down I am still on track.

Btw, another way to get your BF% is through calculators online, again not perfect but you get an idea. At 5-9 150 with a 30" waist they say you are very lean under 10%.

At my lowest BF I can ever remember I was 9% and still was not ripped up around the midsection. I guess its a genetic thing. I can get cut everywhere but barely show abs. Oh well.

[GatorLane77]

I thought this was going to be an ad for colonics.

[Jaggator]

Brave, I commend you for having the willpower to do what you have done. Great job!

[busigator96]

great work Brave! We're proud of you! If you are looking for inspiration have a look at this verse. I Corinthians 6:19-20.

I have been experiencing some great success as well. I went from 196 to my current 177. my goal is to get between 165-170 before hitting the weights as well. I still want to jog though because i recently reunited with my long lost love of running since I've shed off the pounds. perhaps in the fall i can run a couple local 5K's for fun and get down to 6.8% BF like I was in HS.

Brave--keep up the good work!

[Jaggator]

http://www.vitaminshoppe.com/store/e...ci_sku=6J-1001

[fredsanford]

Brave's program sounds almost exactly like Nutrisystem, which I started 5 weeks ago. To date, I have lost 25 pounds with no more vigorous exercise than dog walks and rounds of golf.

NS was more convenient for me because my wife was pregnant and too tired to cook. The prepackaged meals were a lifesaver, keeping me away from the drive thru.

[G8RBrave]

Oh, one other tip that has been a lifesaver for me. If you are a Sam's Club member, they have a package of frozen, precooked grilled chicken breasts that you heat up in the microwave. You get ten pieces for $10. They taste great, have a ton of protein, and you can put them on wraps, salads, sandwiches, or just eat them with some veggies and brown rice. I can throw together a meal in about 5 minutes with these things. I believe it is the Sam's brand (Member's Mark?).

If you aren't a Sam's Club member, Publix or Wal-Mart usually have the Tyson brand for a bit more, but I don't think they taste as good and the pieces are smaller.

[Dreamliner]

Originally Posted by LeafUF

How?

Because if your aim is to lose weight, then why would you take unnecessary nutrition of a sort which would conceivably undo the caloric deficit you've just achieved through your exercise routine ?