It doesn't get much simpler than the title suggests. I am 6'6" and have let my weight creep up to 330 pounds. My wife and I just had our first child, and that is what pushed me up from "only" 300 pounds to where I am now. I travel a lot for work, and am eating out constantly. Besides the travel for work, I am also working on my MBA. Joining a gym is out of the question. There is simply no time in the day for it. My question is, what diet or plan has worked for you. I did Atkins a few years ago, lost 52 pounds, and then gained it all back. What has worked for you? Thanks.

Mike F

I'm interested in hearing myself.  I have about 30 to lose.

I have 50 or so

Quoted: It doesn't get much simpler than the title suggests. I am 6'6" and have let my weight creep up to 330 pounds. My wife and I just had our first child, and that is what pushed me up from "only" 300 pounds to where I am now. I travel a lot for work, and am eating out constantly. Besides the travel for work, I am also working on my MBA. Joining a gym is out of the question. There is simply no time in the day for it. My question is, what diet or plan has worked for you. I did Atkins a few years ago, lost 52 pounds, and then gained it all back. What has worked for you? Thanks. Mike F

Cut down on your caloric intake and good ole fashioned exercise....It works for everyone, given they actually do it

Simple, burn more than you take in, and you lose weight.

Don't fight it. If your had it in you to be thin and stay thin, you would already be thin. You can try to lose weight and diet for the rest of your life but you will be miserable and never be happy with where you are at on the scale. Live how you are most comfortable and be satisfied.

Hacker's Diet

I kinda like the approach. Fat ass systems engineer couldn't lose weight so made flowcharts and spreadsheets

Portion control worked for me.  I just cut my portion sizes in half and lost 35 pounds in about 3 months.  Have managed to keep it off too.

You can start by eating smaller portions. However, you need to exercise as well. COnverting most of your fat to muscle would be a very good thing. I recently lost about 20 Lbs. by just eating smaller portions, less beer and riding my mountain bike a few times a week. Mind you, I was not really trying to lose anything, it just happened as a side effect of better eating and exercise.
As always, YMMV.

I'm 5'8" and 235.  

I've got a few pounds to loose also.  

Get off the fast food and try some exercise!

Quoted: Don't fight it. If your had it in you to be thin and stay thin, you would already be thin. You can try to lose weight and diet for the rest of your life but you will be miserable and never be happy with where you are at on the scale. Live how you are most comfortable and be satisfied.

A friend of mine who was obese from childhood went from 260 to 175 in about 5-6 years.  He's never been happier.

Quoted: It doesn't get much simpler than the title suggests. I am 6'6" and have let my weight creep up to 330 pounds. My wife and I just had our first child, and that is what pushed me up from "only" 300 pounds to where I am now. I travel a lot for work, and am eating out constantly. Besides the travel for work, I am also working on my MBA. Joining a gym is out of the question. There is simply no time in the day for it. My question is, what diet or plan has worked for you. I did Atkins a few years ago, lost 52 pounds, and then gained it all back. What has worked for you? Thanks. Mike F

Check out the fitness & self defense portion of the site, there's plenty of members there that will help you out.  

Quoted: Quoted: Don't fight it. If your had it in you to be thin and stay thin, you would already be thin. You can try to lose weight and diet for the rest of your life but you will be miserable and never be happy with where you are at on the scale. Live how you are most comfortable and be satisfied. A friend of mine who was obese from childhood went from 260 to 175 in about 5-6 years.  He's never been happier.

There's one. I could probably show you 10 for each one.

+1 for smaller portions. Also try to walk or ride a bike whenever possible.
It's the little things that make a difference. And never give up.

My suggestion is not to go on a crazy diet like Atkins.

A more moderate one might be the Sugar Buster type. Just limit *processed* and high-glycemic index carbs. You can have whole grains, fruits, veggies, sweet potatoes. Avoid the white bread, cakes, candies, sugar.

Then exercise.

Quoted: Quoted: Quoted: Don't fight it. If your had it in you to be thin and stay thin, you would already be thin. You can try to lose weight and diet for the rest of your life but you will be miserable and never be happy with where you are at on the scale. Live how you are most comfortable and be satisfied. A friend of mine who was obese from childhood went from 260 to 175 in about 5-6 years.  He's never been happier. There's one. I could probably show you 10 for each one.

Add another one

I was 210, lost 45 pounds in 4 months.....I eat like a fatass these days and I dont gain a pound....It wasn't difficult, you just have to WANT to do it, and not because someone else wants you to

Cut the garbage from your diet.  Swear-off fast food - completely (the weight gain from fast food comes with free heart disease).  Cut out the soda and sweetened drinks.  Nix the snacks (chips, popcorn, candy.... the high carb - high fat, high salt stuff).  Cut it to zero.

Plan your meals more and don't give in to the "I only have 10 minutes to eat" voice that leads to bad choices.

Eat smaller portion sizes.  Gradually reduce them.  Don't take a lot of food and eat everything on your plate.  Eat until you are just comfortable - not beyond that.  Eat slowly - chew well.  

Don't look at food as as comfort item.

Walk when you can.

Good luck!

don't go for some fad "diet"

I'ts all a state of mind and the way you think sort of thing.

I lost 90 lbs in 9 months because I hit a so called bottom with the way I was eating and living.

You can do it if you put your mind to it and you don't need to spend money on what somebody is trying to sell you to get there.

I did it way back before jarad starting eating at subway, it can be done.

The only machine I used was a cheap stair stepper, the rest was push ups, sit ups, got off my big ass and did something.

Go For It!! It can be done.

+1 on the "Stop eating so much, you fat bastard diet"


Limit your portions, drink water instead of soda, take the stairs instead of the elevator, take a walk on your lunch break. Even a short walk is better than no walk. Get a pedometer and set a step or distance goal for every day and make it every day.



Weight loss isn't hard, it is just a matter of putting smart calories in your body and then burning off more than you put in. The hard part is the human problem.....self control and discipline.

Dr. Scott Connelly

Body Rx

Buy the book, read it, follow it.

A good first step is to get off the soda. This by itself will send you in the right direction, plus it's a money saver.

You wont want to hear this. but a vegetarian diet is a fast way to lose weight and maintain a good healthy diet. However I would eat some chicken and fish every once and a while, so you dont shock you system. You will also notice a better degistive system.............if you know what I mean

See a doctor and consult with him.

Step One:  Stop drinking Soda-Pop.  Cut it.  By subtracting that from your diet all things being equal the average adult male will drop 5-15 lbs. in a years time.

Step Two:  Eat prepared cooked meals with little to no oils.

Step Three:  Buy a large breed dog.  Walk it every morning, afternoon, and evening for a total of 3-5 miles every day.

Step Four:  Get a Multivitamind start drinking water until you're sick of going to the bathroom every five minutes and then drink some more water.

Step Five:  Join a gym and make an effort to work out at least three times a week for 60 minutes of cardio. Walk on that treadmill and ride that bike.

Step Six:  Look at your diet and do what you can handle for a life change.  Like instead of eating ground chuck have some turkey burger.  Instead of 2% Milk cut down slowly to Fat Free.  Instead of potato chips try eating fat free yogart.  Don't put mayo, but try mustard or honey instead. Concentrate on portion control.

Step Seven:  Get an outdoor hobby you like to do.  Get your butt out doors.  Stay outdoors.  Try hiking or tennis.  Maybe some basketball or mountain biking.  Get outdoors!  Remember your mother telling  you to get outside and play? Well, that is what you have to do.  Plus, it will give you motivation to keep working out so that you can do better at what you enjoy doing outside.  Remeber high school sports?  You weren't working out for being fit you were working out to better at the sport you enjoy.

People who just workout to lose weight or try to drastically change their diet burn out and lapse back gaining the weight they lose.  You need to have fun, enjoy, and make little cuts and changes in your diet where you can.  

Quoted: Don't fight it. If your had it in you to be thin and stay thin, you would already be thin. You can try to lose weight and diet for the rest of your life but you will be miserable and never be happy with where you are at on the scale. Live how you are most comfortable and be satisfied.

No offense, but that's fucking asinine (remember, I said no offense!).  Why should someone that's obese be happy about where they're at on the scale?  A lot of fat people seem bent on convincing others that a contrived inflation of self-esteem is somehow more healthy than actually being, you know, healthy.  For the OP, come over to the Self Defense & Fitness forum, you should be able to find something to help you get started.

I'm 34,  wife just had a baby and I quit smoking about six months ago. Arfcom hasn't helped either.

I'm about 30lbs heavier than I'm comfortable with now, never have been heavy before.

Trust me, you'll feel better at a healthy weight, it doesn't really matter if you're so thin every muscle in your stomach shows or not, but the difference in how you feel between having your waist match your inseam and being four inches out of square is significant.

no matter what diet plans you come up with you HAVE to do some kind of regular exercise daily.


this is going to sound cliche, but...

I have lost a good amount of weight by completely (almost completely) cutting out fast foods other than Subway or other sandwich shops.

I was a regular McDonalds and Whataburger customer for the last 5 years of my life and I decided to cut it out completely.  I also do a lot of exercise now, but if you can't get to regular exercise daily at this point substitute hi-cal burgers and fries for a deli sub.  Leave off the fat mayo and get healthier bread.

that should at least be a start.

oh and I can't remember the last time I drank a non-diet soda.

It's simple: Lifestyle change. This means eat less, exercise more. No fad diet will do it for you and you won't succeed if you don't want it bad enough.

I was 267lbs in March of 2006. I am now 225lbs and muscular. I did it by changing my diet (aka not eating fast food) and working out at the gym. There is no other way.

Stop drinking all high calorie drinks, especially soda. If you must have a soda, choose diet.

Stop eating milk chocolate, pastries , corn and potato chips and dip.

Stop or cut way back on eating potatoes, pasta, corn and white bread.

Stop drinking milk unless it's skim. You'll learn to like it.

Increse your activity level by, parking your car farther away from the entrance to work, the store. Use the stairs not the elevater. When you get home, walk around your house before going in.

don't eat after 5pm

If you eat out alot. Try sub-way reduced calorie subs or a salad with light vinegrett. Avoid The grease pits and fast food "heart attact in a sack joints.

In 3 weeks you'll shave 10 lbs in one year you'll be buying a speedo.

oops almost forgot.....DRINK LOTS AND LOTS OF WATER

Quoted: It doesn't get much simpler than the title suggests. I am 6'6" and have let my weight creep up to 330 pounds. My wife and I just had our first child, and that is what pushed me up from "only" 300 pounds to where I am now. I travel a lot for work, and am eating out constantly. Besides the travel for work, I am also working on my MBA. Joining a gym is out of the question. There is simply no time in the day for it. My question is, what diet or plan has worked for you. I did Atkins a few years ago, lost 52 pounds, and then gained it all back. What has worked for you? Thanks. Mike F

If you're not serious about 50% of the healthy way of losing weight and maintaining a healthy lifestyle then why bother at all?

I travel for work as well and virtually EVERY hotel I have stayed at in the last 5 years has at least a treadmill & elliptical.

Quit making excuses and get into shape so you can enjoy your family for years to come.

same here.,,.  

I have no motovation to get up... and do something..  


I get off at 7 pm and get home to do nothing,,  

I need motovation .  

This worked for me.  I lost 60 lbs and have kept it off for over a year now.  I started eating off of salad plates instead of dinner plates.  I chewed my food more slowly than normal.  I also put my fork down between bites.  This lets you feel full before you have eaten enough food for 3 people.  I still have to tell myself that it is just food and I can have more later, that way I don't overeat.

Also, I run on the treadmill every other day or so.  After 2 weeks you won't be hungry anymore and in a few weeks you will start seeing weight loss.  I still eat all of the food I did before, just not so much of it.

YMMV

I've lost 25 lbs (180 to 155) since June, without exercise and without even trying.

Plan:

Eat dinner on a salad plate.  Do not consciously try to put smaller portions on the plate.
(Scientifically studied: foodpsychology.cornell.edu/workcenter/2004_pdfs/Consumption-ARN_2004.pdf)
eta: the post directly above this is yet another testimonial to the salad plate

Make at least a minimal effort to buy healthier foods.  Whole grains instead of white; eat less red meat; eat fewer simple carbs, especially sugar.

Finally, I stopped taking the elevator and now use the stairs.


Good luck.

Quoted: same here.,,.   I have no motovation to get up... and do something..   I get off at 7 pm and get home to do nothing,,   I need motovation .

I had no motivation either.

Technically speaking everything was fine, I was eating whatever I wanted (mainly fast food or take out hi-cal food) and coming home to eat a large meal cooked by my wife.

I and her finally started going to the gym at a slow rate, after it became regular, I started sleeping better, feeling better in the morning when I woke up, less tired during the day and feeling better about how I looked.  That WAS my motivation, to keep feeling like that.  Now I feel guilty if I go a day without some kind of exercise when I have every chance to do so.  I've gone to the gym late in the night sometimes because I felt guilty about skipping it during the day, and there's no better sleep then after an intense workout.

Ok...here is my diet plain and simple...I have lost 40 + pounds in one year.


Soup...

I started over a year ago and tracked EVERY calorie that I was taking in. I realized that
the majority of my meals were fast food. And those meals were WAY over what I should be taking in. Example...one meal for me from Burger King with all the fixins(I'm southern ya'll) put me over my calorie count for the entire day.

I cut that out...started cooking at home. Problem was...I'm a butter, sauce, and condiments hound. Before I knew it...I was at a loss as to what my intake was. I had an approximate, but didn't have the discipline to find out each ounce of this or that...didn't work. All the while this first few months I was exercising. Didn't work for me. I would eat (probably overly so to compensate for "all the exercise I was doing!")

Anyway, I was thinking about it one night and it hit me...SOUP.

Benefits:
1. It is a meal that is as easy to cook as any other.
2. Most contain approximately what you should be getting per meal in cals. (Not the
   concentrated ones though!)
3. It is served hot and thus requires you to eat slowly (this was key for me!)
4. You know EXACTLY what you are taking in on each meal.
5. Soups come in a wide array of flavors (meat, chicken, vegetable based)
6. They make portable soups on the go(easy to micro at work) with SUPER low calorie  
   counts.
7. Easy clean up.
8. IT WORKS!

And my favorite...I have not exercise one additional bit on this diet. In fact i quit what I was doing up to this point and I continue to lose weight about  1-2 pounds every other week now. I started at 249 last November and I fluctuate between 207 - 209 over the past three weeks (thanksgiving I went overboard!) I have since reduced my soup eating to only my lunch and eat a regular homemade reasonable dinner. I am in the best shape I have been since around 1997.  

YMMV but this worked for me.

Colonel Panic's patented weight loss advice:

You cannot lose weight (or be healthy, for that matter) without exercising.  If you can't join a gym, then improvise.  You should do at least an hour of mild or half an hour of vigorous exercise each and every day.  When you're traveling, make use of the hotel's gyms.  Read your textbook and class notes while riding a stationary bike.  If there isn't a gym, then walk around the neighborhood for an hour before you go to bed.  Do 100 pushups in the morning before you do anything else.  Walk everywhere you possibly can.  Do not drive somewhere that you can walk to in less than 30 minutes.

Eating a decent breakfast is beyond important for losing weight.  Eat oatmeal and fruit for breakfast.  Bring an electric teapot with you when you travel so you can boil water for oatmeal; then you won't have to go out and eat breakfast at the International House of Fatasses.  Fresh fruit, not dried.  Do not eat the shitty sugary packets of instant oatmeal.  They taste like ass.

Eat lean meats.  No shitty fast food burgers, no chicken-fried steak.  No mayonnaise.  Subway is somewhat acceptable for lunch.  Go easy on simple carbohydrates.  Don't eat white bread.  The darker and less processed the bread, the better.

Eat as many fresh fruits and vegetables as you can choke down.  Don't use heavy salad dressings.  You should eat so many vegetables that your shit is denser than a neutron star.

Do not eat dinner late at night.  You should not be eating later than 4 hours before bed.  Do not stuff yourself.  Go to bed a little bit hungry.

No sweets whatsoever.  None.  No donuts, no candy, no chocolate, no pop, no fruit juice.  Sweets and sugar are for fat people who use their neck-rolls as pillows.  You do not want to use your neck-rolls as a pillow.

Eat bananas and almonds as a snack.  Almonds are delicious.  

Drink water.  Keep a liter jug of water with you at all times and drink and refill it 4 times throughout the day.  You will piss a lot, but that's good for your kidneys anyway.

If all this gets hard to maintain, make sure to look at yourself in the mirror frequently.  Self-disgust (is that a word?) is a powerful motivator.

I would say no beer, but I don't want to be a beer-nazi to your liver.  So just cut down your beer consumption to a bi-weekly binge or so.

When you're home, exercise with your wife.  She'll appreciate it and you'll fuck a lot afterwards.


Bottom line: there is no easy way to lose weight successfully.  You have to change your lifestyle and habits, and the weight loss will just be a side effect of that.  Good luck.  Your knees will thank you when you don't weigh 330 anymore.

ETA: one thing that seems to help: vary your diet.  Go to interesting ethnic restaurants, look up and cook recipes for foods you've never had, etc.  You will gorge yourself less when you're not bored with your food.  At least I do.  Besides, eating shit you can't pronounce is fun.

You could start doing this

Get used to and "like" feeling hungry...I'm serious

Sweating is the key--the more you sweat, the more you lose.

The two best forms of exercise, IMO, are hiking and mountain biking.

But whatever you do, start out slow and work your way up.  Going for walks each day after work is a really good starting point.  Gradually increase your distance and speed, keeping you heart rate elevated.  Eventually you'll be on the trails with a pack.

Just do it!  And, once you start, do not quit!

I have a theory that many diets work because they set limits on the types of food you can eat. It really doesn't matter what the limits are. No protein, all carbs. No carbs, all protein. Eventually, if you stay on the diet, you get sick of that limited menu, and eat less of it. Therefore, you take in fewer calories, and lose weight.

So I had a theory of an All-Pizza Diet®; a food that can be a balanced menu, depending how it's made. Simple rules: you can put anything you want on the pizza, but pizza is the *only* thing you can eat. Breakfast, lunch and dinner. You can order out for pizza if you wish, or make your own.

So my wife and I decided to try it. We even went out and bought extra Tupperware to store the leftover pizza. Bottom line: it lasted 2 days, then we got sick of it, so we ordered Chinese.

But I guarantee it would've worked if we had stuck with it.

Diets are basically bullshit. Lifestyle changes are what you need to make to lose weight and KEEP it off. One of the best ways to change your physique is weight training. Muscle itself burns fat. The more muscle you have, (generally) the less fat you'll inclined to accumulate. It's working for me. I started about 8 months ago at 5'10" and 205 lbs with a 36" waist and 43" chest. After eating a diet mainly consisting of lean meat, eggs, fish, milk, and a good amount of green stuff. Coupling that with lifting high weight/low reps I'm now at 210lbs. with a 33" waist, 46" chest, 16 1/2" arms, and 25 1/2 inch thighs. I've still got a little pudge from the beer, and being endomorphic, but there is definately a change. My strength has went up astronomically too. I could probably cut more fat with more cardio, but I find it boring. I'd rather lift something heavy. So forget the fad diets and get off your ass! You can do it!

Look up:

Protein Sparing Modified Fast.

Make sure you check with your doc first.

There's no secret recipe for losing weight.

Take in less calories then you burn.  Only way to lose weight.

Don't starve yourself and be patient. It's not going to happen overnight.

Make time to exercise.  When T.V. is on, do some calisthenics during the commercials.

Wake up 15 minutes earlier and do calisthenics and then do 15 minutes in the evening right before dinner.

ar15.com/forums/topic.html?b=1&f=113&t=623227

Burn more calories than you eat. Eat less, exercise more.

For someone in your condition, initially you'll be very limited in what you can do exercise wise. Walk, do jumping jacks, work a punching bag, do some push ups (girl push ups if that's all you can do), etc.

Ingest less fat. If you can get it a drive through, it isn't healthy.

Drink nothing but water. You'll get used to it, and it's healthy.

Eat three meals a day, and that's it. Stop snacking, it's where most people eat the most fatty foods. If you absolutely have to snack, eat fruit or vegetables.

If there's two thing's I can tell people about loosing weight its all about your metabolism and the types of food you eat.

Exercising doesn't make you loose weight. Jogging 3 miles will only net you about 300-400 calories burned at most. Exercising is what will maintain your metabolism(along with heavy water intake).

Your daily calorie intake is where you loose your weight, saying around 1500-2000 cals a day mixed with cardio 3 times a week will melt the fat off like butter in the microwave after you get over your 2-3 week hump.

The only brain work you need to do is learn about food types.
Try to eat as many grams of protein as your target body weight, keep your carb intake limited to complex carbs(seriously, learn about complex carbs) and try to eat smaller amounts throughout the day and you'll be so amazed!

You can't diet, you have to change your life style and eating habits for the rest of your life. Just dieting for a period of time and getting back into the routine that got you over weight will have the pounds returning in short order.  It's a long road especially as you get older. Good luck

" no time......"

wake your lazy ass up earlier and work  out....... its that simple..

but you have to chnage your  diet and way of life..... or else youll stay fat,,and well fat...

1 fat guy to another....

A pound of fat equals approximately 360 unburnt calories.

If you want to lose ten pounds a month then figure you need to burn 3600 calories in some fashion but not intake more than you body needs. The average adult male I believe needs 1600 calories a day, however you can offset some of those calories with fiber. For instance adding a high fiber breakfast will allow you to take in 1900 calories a day and still maintain current weight. My dad lost close to 125 pounds by changing his diet, cutting carbs, and exercising.  

Quoted: A pound of fat equals approximately 360 unburnt calories. If you want to lose ten pounds a month then figure you need to burn 3600 calories in some fashion but not intake more than you body needs. The average adult male I believe needs 1600 calories a day, however you can offset some of those calories with fiber. For instance adding a high fiber breakfast will allow you to take in 1900 calories a day and still maintain current weight. My dad lost close to 125 pounds by changing his diet, cutting carbs, and exercising.

You're off by a factor of 10.  1lb of fat ~ 3500 kcal.

Control what you eat is a big way to easily lose some pounds.  I lost 20 pounds in a year just by cutting out soda from my diet.  Then another 50 pounds by just eating 5 times a day.  Eating through out he day is a good thing.  Image hot embers of a fire with a fat log on it, and then imagine that same condition with lots of little sticks (healthy snaking) all around it.  It would turn into a roaring fire to consume that fat POS log.  Breakfast of no sugar cereal, decent lunch of stuff without a bunch of oil or fat, and a moderate dinner of the same.  Something between each meal during the day with something low fat and no sugar such as veggies (raw and no dressing).  And absolutely no food at night after 2015hours at night.  Drink lots and lots of water.  It sucks and it fricken hurts to do it day in and out.  But man up to it and tough it out.  Only the weak and lazy mind will fail.

I lost my next 100 pounds by doing some type of cardio that lasts 20 minutes every day no more, no less.  Don't have the time?  Bullshit, think of the TV you waste away watching at night before bed.  Easiest thing for me is to just take a walk after the kids are in bed and I've cleaned up the kitchen.  If you must watch a certain late night show, get a VCR and record it.  I like to take my tacticool light, huge 6" folding knife, and extendable baton as it makes me feel like a ninja (it floats my boat).  I tend to walk angry because I hate doing it.  But I am a man that can take the pain.  Only the weak and lazy mind will fail.

Now after a 16 months, I am running the full 20 minutes and started a free weight routine for another 20 minutes in my garage to bulid up some muscle.  I am in the best shape of my life at 34 and I am a fucking bad ass that will blind you with my way too expensive light, rip you up with my knife and use your shin bone as a pencil box.  Well, at least that is what I like to think of when I get pissed of that I am so damned fat.  I have learned to like it how it sucks.  But I am a man that can take the pain.  Only the weak and lazy mind will fail.