Introductions
 

Thank you so much Suzanne and Bill!

I'm really glad this section of the 3fc's forum has been created! I don't expect all that much traffic here, but I hope it will be used a friendly space for new guys who come to this board and might feel slightly outnumbered here :)

If you stop by here and would like to introduce yourself, that might be a great first step.

I'm Matt (as you might have guessed). I'm 37 and have been on the 3FC's site for a very long time. I came here in 2002 and in 2003 I lost about 150 pounds or so. Like so many others, I slowly gained the weight back and stopped coming here to these boards. I did make some occasional appearances here and there, but I was generally absent and back totally into my old ways. These ways included some pretty severe issues with alcohol abuse followed by late at night binge eating. I hated myself and my life and I used alcohol and food as a way of just getting through the day.

I got serious about my health again in the fall of 2007 after a couple of highly embarassing situations. I realized I couldn't fit into most restaurant booths and or fit into chairs that had "arms". I could barely walk and felt like I was close to having a heart attack or some other serious medical condition. I didn't know my starting weight since my scale only went up to 450 pounds and I assume I was probably closer to 470-480.

Slowly, I started walking and made very minor changes to my diet. I stopped going to the bar nightly and took up other hobbies that could occupy my "danger zone" time of right after work. I joined a non-profit movie theater and became active in that as well as some other volunteering activities. After a couple of months I found out that I could weigh myself on my scale again and that first weight was 446 pounds (that is my starting weight here that I use in the signature). That first year I dropped about 150 pounds and got back to where I was in 2003.

I then came back to 3FCs and made other changes to my life to continue the progress. I started doing charity event walks as well as other physical activities. I then joined weight watchers, mainly for the ritual of the weekly weigh in the accountability aspects of the program.

Over the next couple of years (with some up and downs) I managed to continue to lose weight until I hit my initial goal weight of 180 pounds. I've taken up running now and my life is totally changed. I find that whether things are going good or bad, they always get better when I check in here and post. I've made a committment to keeping accountable and I know I can fall off the wagon and slip into old patterns very easily.

I'm looking forward to meeting many of you!

Hi Matt. I've been hovering around 330 for a while now, and I figure it's time to drop the weight before i start falling apart. I'm doing a minimum of an hour exercise every day, and eating healthy.

I'll be talking to you.

Hello you two!

My name is James, and I'm 22 years old, weighing 245. For the past several years, I've slowly been adding the pounds, from what I used to weigh, which was as low as 175. Before I started my diet, I was simply eating WAY too large of portions, and consuming way too many empty calories (pop, etc.), and not really doing any physical activity. In order to achieve my goals (I plan to get to under 200 through diet and excercise, with no real muscle work/toning involved, then at that point, add toning into my plans, and eventually get down to about 180 pounds), I am going to be restricting my calories, and excercise (mainly raquetball and swimming, and then I hope to start running once I'm in a bit better shape). For my diet, I'm cutting nearly all pop, which used to be a big vice, and I will be consuming about 1200 calories, through two good healthy meals during the day, and a nice, filling "meal" bar at nighttime, to help keep away my dangerous craving time.

Good luck to everyone else that's out there, working towards their goals!

1200 is pretty low, you don't want to trigger a slow down in your metabolism and fat burn, personally i have been hitting around 1800 - 2200 per day and having fairly decent success while not starving myself.

Everybody wants to lose the weight like yesterday but it just takes a plan and the willpower to stay with it for the long haul IMO.

Welcome James!

Hello all, My name is Travis and I joined this site a couple years ago because I started to diet and I this site gave me hope. I lost 50 or 60lbs lbs back then and the then slumped back into my old ways and gained 70 back.

I am glad to see a "men's" section here because if you search for weight loss on the web the vast majority of support forums etc. are are either geared toward women and the ones geared toward men are about body building. It is hard to find a site geared towards the average guy wanting to lose some weight.

Anyway, I have decided to get back on track and this is a good place for support. The before and after pictures here really motivate me. I realize that I am a food addict and if I do not get this behavior under control it will kill me eventually. I have a sedentary office job and I love to over eat... not a good combo.

I have settled to lose weight and keep it off to a manageble level. My goal is not to be skinny or super fit, although I would love that, my goal when done, I will still be considered overweight but atleast I would be 170 lbs lighter than I am now. At this point I would be happy to lose 100 lbs and keep it off I would take that in a heardbeat.

The extra weight is ruining my life, keeping me depressed and antisocial, killing my bad knees and preventing me from living the life I want.

In the last 4 years I have lost probably 200lbs but always gain it back and then some. For example; Id lose 40 and then gain back 50, diet again and lose 60 then gain back 70.....So in the long run I end up worse than when I started. Luckily I can lose weight fast but 3 months seems to be all I can take before slipping back into over eating and laziness. Once I lost 75lbs in 3 months without dieting at all, just working out 5-7 times a week. I need 2 knee replacements so I cannot work out with that intensity now.

I started my diet on Monday 1/3/2011, I have lost 11 lbs already in the first week. No exercise just eating approx 1600-1700 calories a day. I really would like to keep my calorie intake down to 1500-1600 a day. When I started my diet I weighed in at an all time record of 450 pounds. My ideal goal is to weight 280 but I could live with myself if I could just weight 350 again. I carry my weight well and at most people think I weight about 100 lbs less than I really do. I am 35, married and have a daughter. I have been over weight the last 10 years of my life, before that I was in extremely great physical shape.....from 17-22ish I had 6 pack abs, played sports and worked out 5 days a week. I dont know what happened to me.

I know this has to be a lifestyle change not just a "diet". This journey is a marathon not a sprint, I just hope I can see the finish line.

Hey guys keep up the good work. You young guys work hard don't wait!!! You will be glad you have this time to shine.

HeavyHitter1, I managed to lose weight with crash diets too - I would even say that I used to think it was not such a big deal to gain some, because you could always crash it off.

But getting over 40, needing bifocals to read, learning that you can sprain your back starting a lawn mower... helps bring some humility to life. When you realize that you don't want to keep re-doing a tedious effort, it's easier to step back and ask: "What WORKS? I just want to *get this over with* and keep the WIN!"

3FC is great, in that you can see both the evidence and the advice of those who beat the odds, and succeeded. The path to victory exists! Just knowing that *it is possible* is worth something. :yay:

hello gentlemen, I have been bouncing in and out on this site. For the first time i feel really educated about my body and have found many useful tools on this site (fitday and c25k) I am currently doing a 1200 high protein/low carb diet and am averaging about 5.75 pounds a week in weight loss. best of all i feel great. and defiently feel that i will never again be as heavy as I once was.

Congrats, Daddyo, on those 60 pounds gone forever. Love the thought, "I will never again be as heavy as I once was."

You're losing at a majorly fast clip and eating pretty low calories to support 5'11" of guy. Can't argue with success, but it's worth being aware of burn out. With only 36 pounds to go to reach your goal, you might have reached the point where you're ready to start tapering toward the eating plan that you'll use for maintenance for life. 3FC is big time helpful in staying the course long term.

I see the bar bell in your ticker. Are you a lifter?

Hello all, I am 31. I am fairly new to this site. I just started the Ideal Protein (IP) January 10th. I was very close to hitting 300# and decided to do something. I saw great results with my father-in-law 110# since June and his wife 60#. I needed something to help hold me accountable and make me some plans. IP was the way to go for me.

I was an active person in HS then college came and after college. I wrestled in HS at 189# and it took all I had to stay there, then play football around 220#. After those years, I just let it pack on, mostly from overeating and poor eating. If there was a food challenge out there, I wanted to do it and beat it, just like Man vs. Food. I have decided to change my ways.

I have 3 children, 5 yr, 14 mo, and 2 mo old. I want to be more active with them and be around for their later years. They are my greatest motivator.

After I shed the fat weight, I plan to start weight training again, I loved it back in the day, but let other things take its place, I want to get back into it.

Good luck to you all in all your efforts.

Hello
 

Hey Guys,

I joined 3 Fat Chicks at the end of December, 2010. I guess it's 3 Fat chicks and some fat guys, huh!

I had lost 100lbs in 2007 in OA HOW and for some reason in the fall of 09' things got crazy in my life, and I just didn't keep the food under control. So here I was at the end of December, and I was just a few pounds shy of having gained it all back. I had reached a second bottom.

However, the good thing about the loss in 2007, I had learned and appreciated how to eat better. I had acquired a taste for greens, fresh fruits and smaller quantities of meat. The trouble was after I let things go, every time I tried to eat that way again, I could only go 2-3 weeks before rationalizing a binge on bad food. I guess, that's why I found this place effective, because of the community.

I'm doing the Ideal Protein for close to 3 weeks, being monitored by a doctor, and plan on completing all four phases. I like the support of my coaches and I frequent the IP board here a lot. However, I'm one of the only guys there it seems, so I like the idea of this guys board.

Good Luck to everyone, and look forward to seeing all the successes!

Doug

Well Hello!
 

You can call me Robert, or Anthony, or Twon. I go by all these things.

32yr old guy living in RI. I was browsing the interwebs and stumbled across this board. I recently started dieting again this year. I'm 6'2", 410lbs. 450 at my highest. However I don't see myself looking like that crazy huge number! Had success in the past dieting, lower carb, but I went 375-290-450. Depression/ not caring basically led to the decline. Ive had minor sprints of loss, but nothing has stuck.

I used to have a weight loss blog, but I lack the commitment to keep up with everyone who follows me, so I thought a community setting might serve me a little better. And something geared towards guys is always a plus! My diet plan is nothing crazy. Less calories, simply. I've never had an issue with eating well. I typically eat salads and tofu and fiber cereals w/ almond milk and general healthy eating. However, I binge eat my emotions and on my days off I'll just buy a large extra cheese pizza and eat the whole thing by myself in one sitting. Better portions / no take out. We're starting here. Oh, and exercising of course. Using the biggest loser for Xbox kinect. Someday I'll use that gym membership I've had for a year and never used.

Oh, and I love cheese. More than you possibly could. It's important you know that out of the box. I've been on Atkins and have been Vegan. I'm always willing to try new diets, but I feel I know enough to lose weight without cutting out anything! I also am a terrible cook. So... Hi.

Welcome juiceman11 - Seems to happen to very active athletes that the weight gain slips up on them. Glad you've caught it. Hope you've found the Ideal Protein Diet forum - there's a bunch of active followers there. And they claim both good success and ability to continue.

Welcome Doug (Douger963) - Yay for "greens, fresh fruits and smaller quantities of meat" - after we get those ideas under our belts sticking to a healthy eating plan does begin to seem normal. If you drag juiceman11 over to the IP board, you'll double the number of men, LOL.

And Welcome Twon (iTwon) - Yep, accountability has a big impact on caring, which you point out impacts staying the course. Will keep in mind that you're a cheese nut. What's worked for me has been to upgrade my taste in cheese so that I avoid the pervasive spread of American Cheese on everything and focus on small doses of, say, Gorgonzola or ripe Blue Cheese. By-the-by, your user name is a kick.

Oh no i have a pretty good idea about cheese love as well, i can't remember the last time i went a day without , it might be years. :devil:

I used to lift weights and bike religiously for years but one thing leads to another and between the toll it takes on your body and the time and energy needed, well.

That said i didn't tailor my eating habits to adjust when i quit so next thing you know ....

It did just sneak up on me, kind of. I hope to get back into weights and some training once the "fat" is gone and become more lean. Good luck to you.


I have found the IP forum. Only a handful of males there. I also have my father in law who has lost over 120# on IP since June. He is doing great and along with his wife. They were a great motivation for me. Been fairly easy for me to follow protocol. Good luck to you as well.

No I am not really lifting yet, I am focusing on weight loss and with the low calories, I dont want to do too much and even though i am only eating 1200 calories I eat about 120 grams of protein a day, so i never feel hingry or weak. I am not really worried about maintence, I am worried about being able to consume 1800 - 2000 calories I have gotten so used to the way i eat now and i enjoy not overeating. But we will see

Hello,
I just started Medifast. They tell me I can lose 100 lbs in 34 weeks. I'm at 303 now. I am hoping this works

Welcome 6strg - Kudos for getting started since that's the hardest step in the journey.

There are a bunch of threads here on 3FC that might interest you, including this one for Medifast.

What do you have in mind for your exercise plan? The very thought of an exercise plan was beyond me when I started out 81 pounds ago, but I started taking walks. Initially I took very short walks, but was able to increase the distance rather rapidly.

Hope you keep coming by.

Way to go on starting a diet plan. I started Ideal Protein this month and it is very similar to Medifast. I also have a coworker that did Medifast and had a great 80# loss in weight. The plan will work if you adhere to the rules and avoid temptations. In 12 days I have lost 17.8# on IP and I follow the plan very strictly, and that is with no exercise.

Good luck to you in your journey. Follow the plan and you will see results, quickly!

Just saying hello. I just joined this site and I am on the Ideal Protein plan as of last week. Not really sure what to expect, but I hope to finally get the job done.

Welcome - YankeeFan14040 - Congratulations for starting your journey; I can see that you've already found the Ideal Protein thread here.

What do you have in mind for your exercise plan? My prejudice about Buffalo is that you get serious snow, LOL, but that it's an active town.

If you like to chat baseball, there's some diehards over on 3FC's Winter Baseball thread counting down til spring training (full disclosure: Red Sox Nation guy here).

I have been poking around here since the end of Nov/10, when I started IP, that was 50# ago and have really enjoyed the info on the IP side of this site. Now with a boys club started it adds to the info.. and helps avoid all the TOM posts.. :-) What has been interesting is the change in your head from a big guy to a guy in transition.. I first noticed it when looking for shirts.. It was weird not to head to the XXL section.. Anyway I wanted to stop in and say hey and reading all the posts has been great motivation.. And to let fellow IP guys that we are out out there..

Newby and need help
 

Hello,

My name is Larry and I need lots of help.

I am 66 years young and I have been a YO YO dieter all of my adult life. I come from a family where my mother and my brothers and sister were all overweight. In the past I have lost large amounts numerous times only to gain it back plus some. I was so discouraged at the beginning of this January that I discussed gastric surgery with my doctor. He told me that that was a possibilty. At home thinking about it and reading about how the risk factors increase after the age of 65 I decided to try diet and exercise one more time.

I started a 1500 calorie balanced diet on 1/6/2011 and I have lost 23 pounds so far. I also started walking and I have built it up to 2 miles now. I have severe arthritis in both knees and both hips but I have found that so far I am able to walk through the pain. Eventually I want to start bicycling again on my bicycle. Living in Florida enables me to do this year round.

My experience has shown that if I am to stop the cycle of weght loss followed by weight gain I will need the support of others. I have proven I cannot do it on my own.

Larry,
----------------------
Your body is a Temple
I Treated Mine
Like an Amusement Park!!!

Thanks BillBlueEyes. I'll have to def check that thread out. Congrats to you guys on your recent pickups...love the competition between our two teams. I actually went to Gillette Stadium last year to watch the Pats. vs Bills after going to Yankee Stadium to watch the Red Sox vs Yanks. One of these times I must make it to Fenway. So much history there. You've been maintaining for 3 years now? Congrats. That is impressive. What do you do to maintain if you ever have pizza or a few pints or of the like? (I know there will be those days here and there).

This is such a wonderful addition to the website - i discovered the website yesterday but only found the men's section today.

About me

I am from India - 26 years old. Been fat all my life. Around 240 pounds. Last two years I went into a serious diet and exercise and came down to a brilliant 200 but then something happened. I got into post graduate college.

The last 6 months I have been meticulously putting back all that I had lost (ranging from too much partying, eating out and stress eating) ...

One goood news - I have a job and I am going to be moving to a new city in June. The bad news - it involves a lot of meeting new people and meeting clients, I don't want to be the big slob and I want to lose weight before then.

Plus, I want to meet a woman! It's been a year since I have actually dated - guess I need to lose weight to get confident and ask someone out.

We are all in this together!

Target weight 185 pounds.

Hey everybody!
 

I found this site about 2 years ago but didn't join until last year. I have had some setbacks in the last 6 months but I'm back on track right now. I'm doing cardio at least 5 times a week and my calorie intake is about 1800-2000 calories. My diet is the healthiest that it has ever been. I've cut out fast food almost all together, sodas, sweet tea, and I only eat Red meat about once a week. My vegetable, fruit, whole grain intake has gone way up, and most things that I eat are organic and I don't consume very many things with preservatives. I'm doing some HIIT, elliptical, and the treadmill. It is great that there is a guys side to 3fatchicks now and look forward to hearing about everybody's progress.

Hi I'm Rob. This is my first post here. I started the Medifast plan two weeks ago at a weight of 225 lbs. I have to admit I had a lot of doubts about it at the start. When I received my first shipment of Medifast meals in the mail, I procrastinated several days before starting in to the program. My feeling at the time was that it probably wasn't going to work for me and that I would quit after a week or two. But I went ahead and started anyway. Once into it for a few days, I found it a lot easier than I expected. I didn't weigh myself during the week, because I know better. When I stepped on the scale a week after I had started, I really expected to be disappointed. Much to my surprise, I had dropped 9 lbs! At my second weighing (yesterday), I had dropped another 3 1/2 lbs. Not as impressive, but I'll take it any day. In my past dieting experiences, I would have been ecstatic to lose 3 1/2 lbs in a month, let alone a week.

My wife has been very supportive, and it has motivated her to start on a diet plan herself. Although she is on a totally different plan, we share the same "lean and green" meal every night for dinner. This really helps a lot. My target weight I think is 175 lbs, which is the weight I was at before we got married about 12 years ago.

Anyway, I'm happy to be here and hope to share ideas and experiences.

Hi, I am Joey and I found this forum last week, but just joined today. Been on my weight loss journey since Jan 1, 2011 In Dec 2010 was diagnosed with a fatty liver, which runs in the family then usually turns to liver cancer. The doctor told me I needed to loose some weight....duh! Well I started at 289 pounds. I started a low fat/high fiber diet and hit the gym. As of today, I am down 46 pounds. My goal weight is 209 maybe lower. So I am over half way there. In the process of training for a 5k. Feeling great.

Holy cow Joey that is some serious weight loss. Nice work!

JohnP..thanks for the encouragement. I am really motivated. Grandfather and uncle died from liver cancer and mom had to have a liver transplant. I have always been very athletic and was a pretty healthy 289 if there is such a thing. Only had to take blood pressure medicine for mild hypertension, which is resolved now. I was a cut 215 my junior year in high school while playing football. I hope i can get down to the 209 goal, which will put me to what I was when I was 16.

Here is a before picture and a halfway through picture.

Well my name is Kingsley,I am 26 years old. I have been on this site since 2009. I am pretty geeked about this new section. I recently restarted this weight loss journey. At my heaviest I was 455 lbs, that was about a month ago. I am now at 434.5 lbs. I have a long, long way to go as I am thinking I want my goal to be around 225. I don't want to be a "skinny" guy. I'm thinking more 34-36 than 30 waist. I'll just have to see how I feel when I get closer to that number. I am terrified of loose skin because I KNOW I will opt for reconstructive surgery and am HIGHLY uncomfortable with a major surgery like that. I just refuse to lose that much weight and not be pretty comfortable with my body. I know being healthy is the big reason to lose weight, but being happy(or at least "ok")with how I look is about equal for me. I mean, I am relatively healthy. No diabetes or anything like that and decent endurance. Only concerns I have right now is back pain from awkward sleep and knee/shin pain. So, the main difference would be how i look...oh and what clothes/shoes I can buy...i was so geeked when i heard i could lose weight in my FEET...i DESTROY shoes

Welcome Kingsley, and Congrats on your loss of 21 pounds.

It's a great start to have your list of reasons you want to be at a lower weight - good idea to write those down and review them every day; the reinforcement does, IMHO, rewire some neurons and make it easier to stay the course.

You might consider starting with smaller goals. It works wonders to choose to lose, say, 10 pounds at a time. That's a goal you can achieve and give yourself a reward for - a non-food reward, LOL. It's a challenge to focus on the grand goals of several hundred pounds because it's easy to get discouraged and to worry about future body issues.

There are a bunch of different eating plans and exercise plans being pursued by folks on 3FC. Have you gotten to the place of selecting those for yourself?

Glad you've joined us.

Not that it's any of my business but you seem to be biting off more than you can chew, looking far to distant into the future, can't believe you would actually be more concerned over loose skin vs weighing 450 + pounds. You are not healthy, you just have youth on your side, that won't sustain / last forever though. I'm not trying to be negative just that you need to relax and look at this from a long term perspective, planning what you are going to be doing 1 or 2 years from now creates unrealistic targets, you need to worry about today alone "right now" and each successive day as a new beginning.

Also i think you are not being sincere with yourself yet, don't burn yourself out before you get going.

Changing your entire physical appearance and entire mental/psych overhaul is absolutely 100% gruelling, be prepared, make sure you find a plan (foundation) that you can absolutely maintain and rely on through the absolute low of lows.

I have some loose skin, no where near as bad as some i've seen, i gain weight all over though so it was spread out pretty evenly, will know better when i drop another 40 pounds just what i have to deal with, truthfully i never expect to look like i did, during my weekend hospital stay at no time did the nurses make me feel ashamed or uncomfortable that i had lost a lot of weight and didn't look like a greek adonis, a couple even seemed to kind of like me more for it, especially that i did it all on my own . :)

I wish you well, take stock of the fortitude of these ladies and watch and learn from them, they are methodical and intelligent in their approach, take from them what they have learned works, it's harder for women to lose weight (less muscle mass) when they find ways, you take note.

Not surprising. It is admirable what you have accomplished.

@BillBlueEyes Thanks for the encouragement...I am setting small goals...I hit the 20 lb goal already...so that philosophy is not lost on me. I have a plan and i thought i'd hate it, but i love the stability...thanks so much again

@Resolute I am definitely being sincere with myself. I know the realities, but i yet have my goals and desires for my body. I realize it's a distant future, but i still acknowledge it as a real, and attainable future. I have to believe I can get where I desire to be. It's what i believe what works for me. Health is first, I understand that youth is on my side, but that is not the ONLY reason for me losing weight and i can admit that without feeling shallow or insincere. Don't be timid at all, it's your business because i put it out here...you never know...one day your blunt words or sentiments may be JUST what i need if i'm in a bad place. I appreciate you already!

Hi All

I'm new to the site, and hope to learn something here. I'm not new to loosing weight. I've got a pretty good handle on it (for now, for me at least) . At my peak, about a year ago, I was ~350 lbs. These days, I weigh in under 270, still fat mind you, but far from where I started.

My basic approach is walking. I had all the usual problems associated with the super obese, but the one that bugged me the most was not being able to get around, so I started walking. When I started , going around the block was a pain. These days, I do 5 miles, or more, every morning.

The other part was to control what and how much I eat. The basic approach is low carb. I stopped all high GI carbs (bread pasta donuts cake candy etc) cold turkey. It is not , however, no carb. I get about a pound of low starch vegetables in every day. Also, I try not eat so much ( no seconds at dinner, no gorging after dinner, asking myself, when I eat, if I'm full). I don't bother with counting carbs or calories,

I figure I'm a little under halfway to my goal (~175), but, if your as fat as me, that is way too distant a goal, and concentrating on it would be , for me, counter productive. My goal is always the next ten pound mark . I just dropped under 270 so I'm looking now at reaching 260. I find if I keep the goals incremental, I stay focused an motivated.

So, hello to all

--G

PS.. how do you get one of those weight gifs up in the signature?

@George..Welcome. Yeah I do mini-goals of 10 pounds also. About 5 pounds away from my 60 lost mark. Keep up the good work.

Welcome georgepds - Congratulations on those BIG 80 pounds gone.

Sounds like you've got a rational eating plan, and are getting your exercise by walking. No wonder you're doing well. Keep on keeping on.

Those signature things come after 20 days and 20 posts - the delay is a SPAM deterrent - so look about, post a bit, and in 20 days you'll be able to design your own.

Good luck on your journey.