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I used to weigh around 300 and even after losing about 80 pounds I still look exactly the same in the mirror as I always did. I can kinda see the difference when I see older photographs of myself, but there aren't many of those that exist. It's actually pretty weird. I kinda had no idea I was losing so much weight until my pants stopped fitting and everyone in my family whom I had not seen in a couple years was super surprised that I was almost a normal sized person compared to how I used to be. None of that ever felt very good though, it was just a reminder that even if you lose a bunch of weight you're still pretty fat until you hit a certain point at which you are not anymore, and that I'm not likely to ever hit that point.
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Sep 7, 2014 20:41
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ChairMaster posted:I used to weigh around 300 and even after losing about 80 pounds I still look exactly the same in the mirror as I always did. I can kinda see the difference when I see older photographs of myself, but there aren't many of those that exist. I promise you it's in your head. 80lbs is a HUGE difference. I've lost 70 and there are definitely days when I don't feel like I look that much different, but I do- I look significantly different. It takes a long, long time for your brain to catch up with reality when your body has changed so much from what you were used to.
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Sep 7, 2014 22:16
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lazercunt posted:Can't focus on this enough. While my change is nowhere near as dramatic, as I'm down from 235 to 205 so far (6'0), I don't see the changes in the mirror. I still see the fat all over me, even though I've lost almost 15% of myself. Yeah, when I dropped 70+ pounds a friend I hadn't seen in a while said I must be going to the gym, and my response was "...you can tell?" Looking back it's a loving stupid response, but even when I was in perfect shape I only saw flaws (am male). It makes it much harder to stay in shape when you're still not happy after you get there.
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Sep 8, 2014 03:59
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ChairMaster posted:I used to weigh around 300 and even after losing about 80 pounds I still look exactly the same in the mirror as I always did. I can kinda see the difference when I see older photographs of myself, but there aren't many of those that exist. You do not have to be really thin to look/feel good, depending on your build of course. If you are not short then you do not have much more to lose before you will basically look "normal".
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Sep 8, 2014 05:19
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I totally hear those who say they see no difference, even after substantial weight loss. It just seemed to me that smaller clothes started to fit, but I maintained the same appalling body shape throughout. I've been all over the shop in the last decade. At worst I was roughly 320lbs in 2005. I've never known a time where I've not been overweight to some degree. By 2008 I was a respectable 185lbs, but my skin was an utter disgrace. I'm a fairly depressive type (which is another battle I have to fight) so I was often caught in the "if the effort I've put in has made me into a different type of freak, why bother?" line of thinking. I found weight training very difficult, as I realistically wasn't taking on enough food to have any chance of building muscle. My confidence hadn't improved much and I was still hopeless. In late 2009 after a slip up (up to 210lbs, back down to 185lbs) I had gone to the effort of arranging plastic surgery, attending consultations and securing finance to do so... then I met a girl for the first time. Literally on the day I booked my surgery. She wasn't that bothered by how I looked, although it took a great deal of time to get in any sort of undress in front of her. I never went through with the surgery. From then up until now, I've got back into old ways, and find myself at roughly 260... and divorced. I feel I'm back at square one, but I intend on going through with surgery once I get back down to a reasonable weight. It's literally the only way I'm going to have any modicum of confidence in my appearance.
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Sep 11, 2014 11:17
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Twee as gently caress posted:Question: I really do have a lovely metabolism, though It helps a lot if you remember the silver lining of slower metabolism: it's much easier to build muscle. Hitting the lifts should be your #1 priority in this situation. Not only will you be able to perform hefty feats that burn calories like wildfire, but you'll also be able to clock the poo poo out of the next person that mocks you to your face. Something a genetically twiggy ectomorph can't claim for themself nearly as much.
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Sep 12, 2014 08:44
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Whats the point of having muscles when you can be one of those dickheads that eats twice the calories I do and never has to do any particularly high amount of exercise to maintain their perfectly normal and healthy body weight? I would much rather have that than the ability to gain muscle. Fact of the matter is there's no real point in being able to lift heavy things or anything like that if you still look fat and gross your whole life. ChairMaster fucked around with this message at 13:14 on Sep 13, 2014 |
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Sep 13, 2014 13:07
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Muscle is useful for day to day tasks. Also for not feeling like poo poo, and for not being incredibly frail when you get old.
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Sep 13, 2014 13:33
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I've never come across any day to day tasks that require more than the basic amount of strength you get from having testosterone and living in the first world where we get adequate nutrition.
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Sep 13, 2014 13:58
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ChairMaster posted:I've never come across any day to day tasks that require more than the basic amount of strength you get from having testosterone and living in the first world where we get adequate nutrition. Wait till you get older. Though it's more about flexibility and agility than strength later on, though they are all inter-related.
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Sep 13, 2014 14:18
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I've always been under the impression that most old people get lovely hosed up bodies because they drive everywhere and have desk jobs where they sit around all day.
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Sep 13, 2014 14:21
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ChairMaster posted:Whats the point of having muscles when you can be one of those dickheads that eats twice the calories I do and never has to do any particularly high amount of exercise to maintain their perfectly normal and healthy body weight? Once I started doing cardio and lifting, I turned from one of those people who has to watch everything they eat to not balloon up, to one of those people who needs to eat near constantly to maintain my weight and build muscle. Doing regular exercise and building muscle as a result will increase the amount of calories you burn from simply sitting around, too.
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Sep 13, 2014 14:26
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ChairMaster posted:I've always been under the impression that most old people get lovely hosed up bodies because they drive everywhere and have desk jobs where they sit around all day. So it's not that they don't have muscle it's that they've let their muscles fade into gelatinous goop? The main benefit to muscles is that pretty much every fun thing outside requires them, so being a twig with no muscles would still close off a lot of fun stuff from you.
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Sep 13, 2014 14:42
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I'm no good at fun outside stuff anyways, I wouldn't miss it.
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Sep 13, 2014 14:48
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You need therapy ASAP because you are one sadbrained motherfucker. Why try anything if you're not gonna be good at it the minute you start? Jesus.
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Sep 13, 2014 14:59
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Haha yea that's what they say.
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Sep 13, 2014 16:32
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ChairMaster posted:I've never come across any day to day tasks that require more than the basic amount of strength you get from having testosterone and living in the first world where we get adequate nutrition. It is true that in day-to-day interaction you will never need to use maximal strength, but that does not mean that the added strength from muscles does not carry over. Everything is just easier when you are stronger. Even ignoring psychological benefits like increased self-confidence and the like. Moving furniture (as trivial as moving chairs, tables and couches when cleaning), carrying stuff up and down the stairs, carrying grocery bags (If you can carry 300 lbs around you are going to have a lot easier time carrying 20-50 lbs grocery bags around). Essentially being strong is life on easy mode.
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Sep 13, 2014 19:52
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There's also the aspect of mental wellbeing. Fit people have have more energy even for mental work. Mens sana in corpore sano etc.
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Sep 14, 2014 00:27
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pigdog posted:There's also the aspect of mental wellbeing. Fit people have have more energy even for mental work. Mens sana in corpore sano etc. Being fit also helps with depression.
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Sep 14, 2014 00:48
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Tea.EarlGrey.Hot. posted:Being fit also helps with depression. This is so true it isn't even funny. When I'm able to exercise regularly and lift, I feel one hell of a lot better. Every time I get injured and have to lay off it, I turn back into a sack of depression that sleeps 12 hours a day, and wants to spend the rest of the time slumped in front of the PC moving as little as possible. Just a hint for you younger goons, take care of your joints. Once they're hosed, you're stuck with them.
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Sep 14, 2014 03:19
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I'm sort of the opposite, really, trying to exercise just leaves me angry and defeated by turns--in addition to tired of course  The whole overweight/depressed cycle thing sucks!
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Sep 14, 2014 03:44
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Tea.EarlGrey.Hot. posted:Being fit also helps with depression. I can't remember what it's like to not be depressed, but I do remember that I was way less depressed when I was really fat than I am as just normal fat.
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Sep 14, 2014 08:56
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...which has nothing to do with what you quoted? Are you even interested in changing or doing anything differently (namely, therapy) or are you just going to blather on about how terrible everything is?
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Sep 14, 2014 09:17
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Ciaphas posted:I'm sort of the opposite, really, trying to exercise just leaves me angry and defeated by turns--in addition to tired of course I feel like we have a real problem in this country, maybe the world, with expecting people to jump into unsuitable exercise rather than having an adaptive and progressive approach. I don't know how many people I know who have bought Insanity or P90X and jumped right in despite being fat and middle-aged. Then they stick with it for maybe 2 weeks before getting hurt or demoralized. When I started going to the gym again 2 years ago, I started out going twice a week and just doing mobility work and lifting (all in a weight range that is lower than my first warmup set today!). Gradually I added a 3rd day, then added conditioning work, then got back into my sport. I can't say I never ached or was never injured, but it was much easier to stick with it because it started at an appropriate level and progressively got harder as I got more fit.
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Sep 14, 2014 09:28
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Pinky Artichoke posted:When I started going to the gym again 2 years ago, I started out going twice a week and just doing mobility work and lifting (all in a weight range that is lower than my first warmup set today!). Gradually I added a 3rd day, then added conditioning work, then got back into my sport. I can't say I never ached or was never injured, but it was much easier to stick with it because it started at an appropriate level and progressively got harder as I got more fit. Looking back, for someone who was never really interested in sport there are so many hidden but important factors before you can even get that that starting point though. My experience sounds a fair bit like yours so I'll use it as an example. First of all I was brought up with proper nutrition and a respect for good health so I was never really overweight to begin with. I had no prior body image problems or mental health complications. Even so pretty much the only reason I got into weights was because I already had access to this website and therefore had peope to discuss it with for free (or close to it). It was literally pure chance that got me started early. There are plenty of other mitigating factors - I was bored a lot of the time so even something as seemingly mindless as lifting weights in a gym seemed like a good use of time. I had no other commitments, no dependents or serious schoolwork to occupy my time. I could make it affordable because i was already on campus so the gym was cheaper and there were no transport costs (both time and money). I was working on my bioscience degree and did a few units on human physiology at uni so you could say I had a related interest or background that prepared me somewhat for sifting through the huge amount of bullshit information. Now those situations have changed, but the boat has already sailed for me. Barring some massive catastrophe its unlikely I will ever be overweight because the learning that went on in that period means I now know how and am motivated to foster those good habits. Without that information I would simply have been unable to make the decisions I did. None of my friends lift, none of them has ever shown the slightest interest in learning, much like I am sure I wouldn't have (except typically enough the guy who works for the Sports Comission! in their IT department) Most of my friends are sliding into the typical habits of the middle aged severely overweight office workers that their (and my) parents are, and these are young people. Yes the stupid P90X and other fads come and go, but committment to them in the long term is improbable because they no longer have the time or flexible structure to back their choices up. There is a fairly discrete window during young adulthood where you have the time that with a bit of a headstart you can pick up good habits, but it is no surprise that most people miss out. Our society is designed that way, so its hardly surprising we have terrible health outcomes overall. Thats not to say that change is impossible, but I'd say its just as important to address those other hidden factors that will then allow you to make good decisions. Flaky fucked around with this message at 10:18 on Sep 14, 2014 |
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Sep 14, 2014 10:03
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1st AD posted:...which has nothing to do with what you quoted? Given the choice, probably the latter. Dude wants to know what being fat's like, and this is what it's all about! There's more to it than not being able to run very far.
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Sep 14, 2014 10:09
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1st AD posted:...which has nothing to do with what you quoted? To be fair, this is not a "get fit" thread, or a "what are you doing to feel better" thread. This is an a/t about what it's like to be obese. You and I may not like what he's saying, but it is in line with what the thread's purpose is about.
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Sep 14, 2014 15:41
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Another thing about the attitude towards exercise that really bothers me is this sense that it's this thing that you need to do to punish yourself for being fat -- and if you just do it "right" you will stop being fat or at least get to be one of these self-righteous fat people who thinks they're better than other fat people because "at least [their] trying" -- rather than an enjoyable activity that is good for your health. And all the punishment exercises are things like (again) P90X or or dull machine cardio that are fun for some people but definitely do not have universal appeal. Add to that, even though fat people are supposed to punish themselves with exercise, some portion of the population will always be assholes when they actually see it happening. To be fair, the punishment thing probably kept me moving during periods of my life when I couldn't do what I wanted to do (like at one point I broke my leg and I was able to do generic gym cardio well before I could even comfortably walk a few blocks), and without it I probably would've gotten up to 250lb or more at least once in life. But it still sucks and I think it deters as many people as it motivates.
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Sep 14, 2014 21:40
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So, I'm posting because for the first time in five years, things are going sideways again, and I'm starting to feel the negative affects of being a fat human in public on a daily basis. I've been fat my whole life, and likely suffered from endocrine problems during puberty that were never addressed - I'm female, had early menarche, had a growth spurt at age eleven that mimicked a male growth pattern of going from 5'5 to 5'10, and went from an A cup to a DD cup in about a year. I was the size of a full grown adult by age 12, and had an awkward time socially because people who didn't know my age treated me like the mentally deficient 19 year old I resembled. I've since been treated for PCOS and am completely healthy in terms of insulin resistance and hormone balance. My family life was messed up and I ended up living on my own at 17 and going to community college after dropping out of high school. I lived in the Central Valley of California, also known as Hell on Earth, where it is regularly 100 degrees plus. Any physical activity was murderous in that heat for me and my nearest sources of groceries were two miles away on foot and taco bell was less than two blocks. I ballooned from 250/size 20 at age 17 to 425/size 28. I've always carried weight well, but I was clearly hilariously obese. In 2010 I graduated community college and transferred to university, had my life back in order, and had lapband surgery. I lost about a seventy pounds the first year and gained a huge amount of muscle from exercising and lifting. I continued to lose about twenty pounds a year, putting me at my lowest of 298/size 22. I have a pretty decently curvy figure and I'm tall, so suddenly I was borderline attractive again, and my social life really improved. I don't recommend the lapband to anyone, and for me it was pure physical torture. It did however psychologically help me to take my weight seriously. Now, post graduate school and working full time, I've been sick or injured for about three months, and have moved to an entirely sedentary working life. No more running around the huge campus or having mornings free for the gym. I'm back up to 335 and feel like the world's biggest piece of poo poo. This is the first time in four years I've gained any weight back. I feel sluggish, fat, and bloated. My clothes don't fit properly and I've thrown away everything in larger sizes. I find myself eating the crappiest food possible and have struggled to feel comfortable with my own active dating life given my hilarious and pathological fear of chubby chasers. What it's like being obese for me is a series of daily reminders that everything that's wonderful about me doesn't matter. I am one of those women who everyone gets horrified about on the internet because they "could be so pretty if they weren't such a whale!!!" and I am reminded of that daily by well meaning friends, family, coworkers, and strangers. I am also very heavily into tattooing, and have two half-wrap sleeves because my plan was to get skin reduction surgery, removing the untattooed skin of my inner arm, which looks weird as gently caress. I can't tattoo 70% of my body due to sagging skin/stretch marks and I've felt very constrained by this. Dating has been difficult. I am gregarious and go on dates quite a bit, but here in California I think there is a weird disconnect men have - they basically think I'm so cool and chill and smart that maybe they can convince their dick to be into fat girls. It's a mix of sad and funny, since they are usually the ones that are heartbroken that they just aren't attracted to me that way and expect me to comfort them about it. Also, as a tall, large woman I am often expected to do a considerable amount of physical labor around my 99% female office. So not only am I heaving huge boxes onto shelves and manhandling children, I'm often the only one sweating and panting, making me feel even more ashamed of myself while being surrounded by mostly attractive women in professional attire. I feel constantly out of place in conversations about clothing and shopping, as my own shopping is so restricted to specialty stores. I dress well, but it probably costs me four times the amount it does my coworkers. I've joined a gym now that my two broken ankles have healed (that sucked, gently caress outdoor brick pathways) but I feel like I've lost a lot of progress. edit: photos make things interesting Before (2009)  After (late 2013) 
Mocking Bird fucked around with this message at 02:39 on Sep 15, 2014 |
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Sep 15, 2014 02:20
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Trilineatus posted:So, I'm posting because for the first time in five years, things are going sideways again, and I'm starting to feel the negative affects of being a fat human in public on a daily basis. You can get that progress back  You've already done it once, second time around will be much easier- our bodies have an amazing capacity for retaining muscle mass and getting it back quickly if it's been lost. And hell, it's been what, three months? That's nothing. That's a tiny drop in the bucket of your life. Water under the bridge now, anyway. If you ever wanna chat my PM box is open.
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Sep 15, 2014 13:16
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Pinky Artichoke posted:Another thing about the attitude towards exercise that really bothers me is this sense that it's this thing that you need to do to punish yourself for being fat -- and if you just do it "right" you will stop being fat or at least get to be one of these self-righteous fat people who thinks they're better than other fat people because "at least [their] trying" -- rather than an enjoyable activity that is good for your health. And all the punishment exercises are things like (again) P90X or or dull machine cardio that are fun for some people but definitely do not have universal appeal. Add to that, even though fat people are supposed to punish themselves with exercise, some portion of the population will always be assholes when they actually see it happening. What other way is there to think about exercise? Doing cardio when you're real fat makes you feel exactly like you are dying. It's basically the worst thing ever.
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Sep 15, 2014 16:15
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It is. There is nothing more miserable than slogging away with your pulse hammering in your ears, everything hurting, gasping for air and wondering if it wouldn't be better to just drop dead. I swear, that poo poo's the leading killer of resolutions to get in better shape.
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Sep 15, 2014 16:23
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ChairMaster posted:What other way is there to think about exercise? Doing cardio when you're real fat makes you feel exactly like you are dying. It's basically the worst thing ever. Well, since most of it can be done outside for recreational purposes, it's fun? I enjoyed swimming even when I was so fat and out of shape that I couldn't do a mere 300yds without overheating and gasping for air. People usually don't say they play a sport for the exercise, it's usually because they enjoy it.
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Sep 15, 2014 16:24
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The amount that it sucks makes anything you might do outside inherently unfun. I can walk literally all day if I have to but running for even a minute is the most miserable thing there is.
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Sep 15, 2014 16:38
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ChairMaster posted:The amount that it sucks makes anything you might do outside inherently unfun. I can walk literally all day if I have to but running for even a minute is the most miserable thing there is. Yup. I hiked 12 miles the other day, nothing but a little soreness in the arches of my feet the next morning and a leg cramp that night because I forgot to eat a banana for the potassium. I can run maybe half a mile before one or the other of my knees, ankles, or cardiovascular system tries to fall apart. Liquid Communism fucked around with this message at 02:00 on Sep 16, 2014 |
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Sep 15, 2014 17:35
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ChairMaster posted:The amount that it sucks makes anything you might do outside inherently unfun. I can walk literally all day if I have to but running for even a minute is the most miserable thing there is. This right here is why people fail at exercise. Exercise is, above and beyond all else, supposed to be ENJOYABLE. If you hate running, don't run. If you hate lifting, don't lift. If you hate being inside, go do something outside. ChairMaster you sound incredibly depressed with your situation and like you've given up hope of even trying to change it. Why aren't you getting the help you need?
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Sep 15, 2014 18:08
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I think he's just saying that eating a lot is fun and not exercising is more fun than exercising, personal future health be damned. And since he's never experienced things that you can only experience if you're fit, there's no feeling that he's missing out on anything. It sounds like he doesn't think he will ever shed the stigma of being fat without a level of suffering he doesn't think would be worth it, so he might as well enjoy doing fat things if that's going to be the same anyway.
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Sep 15, 2014 18:20
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ChairMaster posted:The amount that it sucks makes anything you might do outside inherently unfun. I can walk literally all day if I have to but running for even a minute is the most miserable thing there is. That there is exactly what I'm talking about (minus your personal depression issues as pointed out elsewhere). There is absolutely no reason to run or do high heart-rate cardio unless you want to do that stuff. Walking is correlated with a ton of health benefits even if body weight remains the same. I don't think it's been studied, but other gentle activities like pool running, water aerobics, low intensity dance classes, etc. probably have similar benefits. One thing I've thought about quite a bit in spending time with my dad and my sister's (now deceased) father-in-law is that I wish there was a gentle, progressive, social exercise option for older overweight dudes. I guess there is always golf, but for guys who aren't into golf or don't enjoy the outdoors there's a vacuum. Whereas their wives are going off to Zumba or mallwalk or water aerobics. Some sort of reduced impact, carefully programmed offshoot of CrossFit with less "hardcore" branding would probably be ideal.
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Sep 15, 2014 19:13
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30 Goddamned Dicks posted:ChairMaster you sound incredibly depressed with your situation and like you've given up hope of even trying to change it. Why aren't you getting the help you need? You definitely don't want this to turn into a ChairMaster e/n thread those never go well, I'm just keeping it to the fat stuff. Pinky Artichoke posted:That there is exactly what I'm talking about (minus your personal depression issues as pointed out elsewhere). There is absolutely no reason to run or do high heart-rate cardio unless you want to do that stuff. Walking is correlated with a ton of health benefits even if body weight remains the same. I don't think it's been studied, but other gentle activities like pool running, water aerobics, low intensity dance classes, etc. probably have similar benefits. Yea walking is good for you but you're never gonna lose any weight doing it. Or at least I'm not. messagemode1 posted:I think he's just saying that eating a lot is fun and not exercising is more fun than exercising, personal future health be damned. And since he's never experienced things that you can only experience if you're fit, there's no feeling that he's missing out on anything. Yea pretty much. I'm not actually doing the fun fat things either though so here I am eating healthy but unable to manage the willpower to do high heart-rate cardio and staying fat without ever getting to eat ice cream and pizza every single day like I would if it wouldn't kill me.
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Sep 15, 2014 20:30
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Kuuenbu posted:It helps a lot if you remember the silver lining of slower metabolism: it's much easier to build muscle. Wouldn't a fast metabolism be easier for building muscles (faster regeneration) or am I missing something? 
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Sep 15, 2014 21:20
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