This will probably be long. So the cliffs are, Im 25lbs overweight and am desperate enough to try blogging about it to see if that helps me lose it.

I've been pretty active my whole adult life. Lots of running, cycling and rock climbing. Its been probably about 3 years since I was in my best shape, where I weighed 183. I have a really unhealthy relationship with food tho, I'm basically a binge eating lardass who because of enjoying endurance sports has been able to get away with it, but even then my weight slowly crept up to the mid 190s. I imagine I would qualify as addicted to food. I use it as a reward and as a coping mechanism. I have no ability what so ever to restrain myself even if I desperately want to. Dunno if that **** is genetic, but my mom is morbidly obese and has struggled with a food addiction her whole life.

I've always had lower back issues, I have terrible posture, I sit probably 95% of the day and when I started rock climbing less and running more my core strength went to **** and my back has slowly been getting worse. Every few months or so I would land wrong jumping off of something, or just make a weird movement and would feel a knifing pain in my lower back, and id be out of action for a week or two, then be back to normal. However for about 6 months before the new year this would happen more and more and I constantly had a pain in my lower back and butt.

On my 40th birthday (lol, the irony) at the start of this year, I was in vegas with my GF. I was doing a bit of stretching in the hotel room and we were going to walk down the strip. Waiting for the elevator I started to think my back felt a little off. By the time the elevator got to the ground floor I couldnt stand up straight and could barely walk. A month later and it still hurt and was only marginally better, I went to the doctor, had an MRI and I have bluging discs from L2 to L5, with the L4-5 being the main one. Its putting pressure on my sciatic nerve and thats what all the issue is.

So anyway, basically I havent been able to exercise since the start of the year (altho I did ride my bike a few miles the other day and it didnt make it worse, so im going to start doing that), so I've put on another 15lbs. I've been trying unsuccessfully to get back to 183 for a couple years now. Ive tried everything from meal prepping so that I dont have to think about food (turns out having a weeks worth of food on hand isnt great if you are a binge eater). I've tried stocking the fridge with tons of fruits and vegetables and trying to use those to binge on guilt free, but that didnt really work as no matter how much of that **** I ate I never felt satisfied. I've tried paying various people to watch my weight and if I dont meet some goal then I owe them money. Amazingly its ****ing incredibly hard to find someone that wants free money enough that they will monitor you and force you to be liable. I even told a friend I'd give him $10K if I weighed more on my morning weigh in than I had at the highest weight of the previous 7 days. That worked the best, I made it a whole month and had lost about 5 lbs, told him I needed a week off because I was going to a super bowl party and wanted to pig out. He said he had never checked and completely forgot about it anyway. That was the final straw on that method. Nothing else ive tried so far has worked either, and now that I havent been able to exercise I'm getting pretty desperate. I feel ****ing disgusting, my gut pushes into all my shirts, my shorts are super tight and uncomfortable. I've been going to PT for my back and he had me lean all the way to the left and right to see what my range of motion was. The pain wasnt the limiting factor, it was my love handles were big enough that they stopped me from being able to lean any farther. Throw in being completely out of shape now, and the whole situation has me pretty depressed, and yet I still can't not sit there and eat a large pizza for dinner.

So I thought maybe I'd give writing a blog a try and maybe somehow it being public will force me to be accountable. Pretty sure it wont and after a few days Ill have fallen off the wagon a few times and just stop writing here. So in an effort to make that not happen, at least until the end of may, if I go 72 hours without updating stats for a specific day, the person to point it out first gets $100. Figure that will at the least make me write.

So according to myfitnesspal which is what im using to track my calories, my base calorie needs are 2,320 a day. So what Im going to do is update everyday what my weight is, what the bodyfat percentage on the scale was (I know this isnt accurate, but its a relative measure at least ) and how many calories I consumed, and what the caloric deficit I achieved was. My goal is to try and hit a 22,000 calorie deficit. Dunno how well that will actually translate into weight loss, but its at least numbers and something to shoot for. As for food, Im really going to try and focus on not using food as a reward, and try to view it instead as just something to fuel my body. I dunno.

Good luck to you. I’d try to use eliminating the back pain as a huge motivation. There are so many benefits for your life to not having that pain. It’d be worth it to try to control your eating for a few months to lose the weight. 25 pounds is completely doable as long as you’re committed.

I have a similar problem, except it’s a combo of beer and food. I go to the gym 5-6 times a week. However, I’ve gradually gained weight over the past few years. I’ve been controlling my eating for the most part. However, I drink 5-7 beers 4-5 nights a week. Those calories add up fast. I’m at 225 and 6’1. So not obese or anything, but I should probably be 190-200.

GL!

Calories are a relative measure (in terms of accuracy). So if you go on a 22k deficit and don't lose 6 lbs, it just means you should adjust your TDEE accordingly.

Go get em alobar

I'm feeling very conflicted. On the one hand I want people to succeed with their H&F goals, on the other hand I wouldn't mind an extra $100

Good luck!

4/24

weight: 208.6
BF%: 15.6
daily calories: -941

total: -941

Other fun facts. I measured my waist and its 40" around my belly button with core engaged, and 41.75" distended.

Yeah, thankfully I'm not a huge beer drinker. I do have a Dr. Pepper addiction tho that I need to get under control :/

really pisses me off that I let my back get to where it is, I mean maybe it wouldnt have changed anything, but for many years Ive known I sit too much and how generally unhealthy and bad that is for you (not just for your back either) and have been wanting to work on getting up every hour and walking. Same with letting my core get weak. blah.

yeah, I imagine the amount burned during exercise isnt very accurate either, but at least its something tangible to work with.

thanks!

well maybe I will lose weight, but just get real lazy and not update, then we can both win!

Has love handles and yet is 15.6% bodyfat??

Wat

If you have love handles you are at least 25%, possibly 30%. Throw that apparatus away.

Actually just read about the waist. Definitely 30%, people with 40 inch waists die young. Good thing you waking up, I did about 6 years ago. And now I am rich with h&f.

If you wanna go super ham you could always get into ketosis. Watch Rogan podcast with Ronda Patrick, get exogenous ketones, check out reddit/keto, easy game.

You have to deal with underlying issues. You have to find other coping tools/ to live it out/ to resolve it. If you don't you will fall back. I am very the same way with food. Self-observation in the binge eating situations + then really adressing the problem behind helps. But it is pretty work intensive way plain because there are too many such situations.

I would bet that you also have trigger foods. Stuff when you start to eat, you never stop. It helps just not to have them. It won't solve completely the problem, but it helps. One of my triggers are processed cereals . I can eat oats or buckwheat, but not something like cornflakes.

And exercising helps definitely. I am able to keep reasonable weight only because I am exercising a ton.

Anyway gl!

Good luck, Alobar. You can do it.

Because you have back issues and you don't love vegetables, Land O Lakes will be along shortly to tell you to to start running ultra marathons and eat 10 lbs of broccoli per day to fuel your training.

Eat more chicken. Even if you have a reasonable amount of sauce or cheese with it, you can have a lot of it without busting calorie goals. That should help calm the binge tendencies.

GL!

o_0

Apples. Don't forget the apples.

Alobar-

Let's do a weight loss bet

Like I said, I know those scales arent accurate, but its not this scale, ever single bathroom scale ive ever used that does BF% is in the same range (ive had 4 or 5 over the years). When Im 183 it's around 7%, which again, I know isnt my true BF%, but its still a relative measure, if I lose fat its going to go down.

That sounds hard (if its what I think it is). I tried intermittent fasting, and I'm really good at not starting to eat, like I can make it to noon or even 2pm without food no problem, but then once I finally eat I end up eating more than if I just eat a breakfast and a lunch.

anything sugar or chocalte ill sit there and eat till its gone. I literally can't fathom how anyone can have a bag if chips a hoy cookies in their cubbard for a few months and just occasionally go and have a single cookie, wtf?

hah, that should be interesting, since im pretty sure running is what got me in this mess, lol (well running and neglecting general strength training).


what did you have in mind?

This explains why you did so well with the Hershey bars. Good luck!

Alobar,


Whoa, you really are MLY!

I’m the same way with cookies and chips. I just eat them all. Well, actually it’s a little more complicated than that. If the amount left is an absurd amount to finish like 30 cookies, then I might have a normal serving like 2-3 cookies. But once there are say 8 left and I have 3, maybe I have another and it’s 4 left. At that point I’m likely to just get them all out of the way. It’s kinda ocd related - I like completing stuff.

I address these habits like this:
1: mainly I just don’t buy the stuff for my house
2: when I do want stuff like this, I buy like one nice bakery cookie instead of a bag of crappy cookies
3: buy smaller packaged servings. Let’s take walkers shortbread, something I really love, as an example. If I buy a single box with 10 sticks of shortbread in it, I’m likely to eat all 10. On the other hand, if I buy a pack of 5 2-piece packages, I’ll often eat just 2 or 4 pieces rather than open a second or third pack.
4: take out servings onto a plate/bowl, then put the thing away each time. If I have a big bag of potato chips and leave it out next to me during a game, I’ll eat a ton. If I pour a bowl and have to go take it out and pour another bowl each time I want more, I’ll eat way less.

Jackpot.

Using a food scale to weigh out the portion is even better. It takes two seconds to throw your bowl or plate on there, obviously crucial to accurate logging too.

Using small dishware is a great mental trick as well.

TIL its cupboard. who knew!

4 doesnt work for me, I just keep walking back to wherever I put it away to get more. So I stick to 1. I also don't go to the store when im hungry otherwise I ended up buying all that ****.

what did you have in mind?

I don't really care, I just need some motivation. Low stakes. I'm heavier than you so you'll probably want a % loss bet

GL

At least you're getting some exercise.

Less sitting.

whaleobar,

I can't believe you're 40. I thought we were the same age.

Good luck, I'm very similar in terms of relationship with food, its quite a struggle sometimes