If you've managed to lose weight--how has it changed your life?

[Akuma]

Well, as some of you would be aware, I'm trying to trim off a few pounds....I'm trying to get to my BMI 'ideal weight' of 147.4Lbs(67kg), so I can be military fit (http://www.hsiacfit.com/BMICalculator.aspx). Currently I weigh 169.4Lbs(77kg)----not that I have plans to join the military, I just think it'd be cool to be able to have the choice to do so if I want to :)

I know some of you would have lost a lot of weight or known people who lost a lot of weight.
What I'm curious about is how their 'self image' changed after losing weight?

Firstly, if you have lost a lot of weight or are in the process of losing weight--it doesn't matter if you're still overweight, but if you have lost a significant amount of weight, did you feel a lot more confident etc???

I was thinking about it the other day and I believe that I would be quite a bit different in terms of the way I'd approach people. I think I'd be a heck of a lot more extraverted and confident in general.

I'm just pondering(thinking about how great it'd be to finally be where I want to be at, in terms of fitness level and weight)...

Is the way you approach people different, now that you've lost weight?

Just tell me about your experiences since losing weight, and what you're aiming for now :)

Thanx :D




A little background info on what I'm trying to do

My plan at the moment is to do cardio at least 4 times per week. I eat weetbix and milk on the days that I train, which is usually in the morning.

I try to do HIIT running but I find it difficult to do. Regardless, I always aim to get to running for 20minutes although I know that I need to consistantly up the intensity or run for a bit longer.

So far I'm getting some progress. I currently weigh about 77-78kg and I'm 171cm tall.

I've been keeping the carbs lowish but I"m not doing anything silly like starving myself or anything like that. I drink lots of water. I do like tuna and toast for lunch and I'm eating some meat but not huge amounts like I used to :)

I also have a log that I keep where I record my weight in my palm pilot each morning when I wake up and I also have this program that keeps track of my running and how many times I do it each week and distances and times etc :)

[Volcano Admim]

ok ok ok ok
volcano is got some problem on his right foot, so he cant walk much right now, moves real slow -> cos he hurt his foot thumb but thas another story - BUT volcano will help you even on this pitiful state.

first of all -> that site
its wrong
it says i should weight 83kg (183lbs) on my "ideal" weight
excuse me but that is retarded. the **** thing dont even consider wich body type is yours or how much muscle you have, or how are your genetics tendency stuff...
at 83kg id be a SKINNY SICK FOCK
btw im like 6 feet 2 inches tall

now, to the subject
my top weight i ever had was close to 300lbs
while i was doing ma it was always around 275
now i am 231

self image? yeah it does get better, and you get to put on better clothes too. its easier to find kick ass clothes on normal sizes than on the special sizes.
more confident? probably not much. more extrovert? unfortunately not at all
you see, i do this to get the wimmins
i never did this for the health, i do this for the looks
here i am, many months later, many lbs less, and some more muscle and the wimmins?
where the wimmins?
certainly not with me
this kind of thing brings me the killing rage, like, i wanna see blood, you know

i aproach people the same way, but i think that when you get to a new place people definately treat you different than if you were still fat, simply cos you dont bear the title "fat fock that id never fock" "fat fock that cant move" or some.

im aiming for the wimmins still :(

[IronFist]

Don't go by that Military Fit website. It's generalized calculations.

[Akuma]

This is very good. Thanx for the fantastic replies everyone (there is some new info for me to research), it's all very motivating :)

I also wish you all well in your weight/exercise programs and weight loss/maintenence :)

[rubthebuddha]

ignore most bmi estimators. according to that one, i'm 35 pounds overweight, yet i am 17 percent body fat (and dropping). most other bmi estimators give similar results, because they go on an average. most people i know that are quite healthy at their height are deemed well overweight by estimators. just look at sevenstar -- he's my height, but outweighs me by around 30 pounds, and has substantially lower body fat percentage than i do.

ignore estimators. do you feel and look healthy? do you eat well? are you strong and can you run a mile without feeling like death? if so, you're probably still going to be overweight according to such estimators.

[Becca]

"Military fit" is a joke. Uncle Sam said at 61" (5'1") I needed to weigh no more than 127 lbs. The only time I weighed that was when I was 17, fresh out of boot camp, and had a body fat count of 7%. That's not bad for a male, but women that age should never have less than 11% body fat. It made me sick, literally. RTB said it right: How do you feel/look? If your ok on both, you're doing just fine.

[No_Know]

I feel scared to "lose weight" It's changing shape to me. I'm used to my flab this size and breast shape. Some I think goes against a preferred social stereotype. I feel if I'm doing the best stuff (exercising, eating, breathing) I'll look or shape-up to looking how I'm living. I feel good about being and doing other than trying.

I like when people are surprised that I am fast (shortrange or sprint run) or that they think I am strong (but dislike the strong thing because I might be considered big I thing they rely on stereotype of big=strong= and I am only burts strong I might think (not brute strong; not really strong). I really feel good when I am considered flexible (crotch to ground front split either leg front) but Iam aware it can be lost and I think they don't.

I do not like being considered good because then that becoms the standard of expectation.

I might prefer the weight~ because not much is expected of a chubby, plump, (nice) person. And I can be exceptional because of my comprehension of Kung-Fu~...

I can be exceptional at a lower weight/sleeker design. But people might have higher expectations of what I can do. I might not like feeling obligated to perform as I think others expect. It's back and forth...

I think it would take getting used to and scary to live in a new body.

[IronFist]

Originally posted by No_Know
I think it would take getting used to and scary to live in a new body.

It's not like it's a quick process and one day you wake up and are thin all of a sudden. It takes months and years sometimes. So I would assume that you would hardly notice a difference on a day to day basis if you were losing weight. Besides, if you're unhappy once you've lost the weight, you can just put it back on, I guess.

But I don't think too many people would be unhappy if they got down to a better size.