You know, sometimes I wish I was fat. Like 300 pounds fat. You know why? Because I know that I could get back down to 180 in no time. People are so amazed at Joe because he went from 323 to 176 in 18 months and that is so impressive. It isn’t as impressive for someone to stay at around 176 for their entire lives. Well, it doesn’t gather as much “Wow!” appeal from other people. I guess I have to have the personal satisfaction of not being overweight and that’s it.
P.S. This post has been brought to you by Tuesday boredom.
BTW, since you have never weighed that much, you don’t know if you would drop right away. it’s hard, harder than you think. people who have lost alot of weight before understand this…it is something to marvel.
There have been a couple of times where I have dropped 20-30 pounds in a few months, but I haven’t done anything where I go from absolutely huge to absolutely skinny. I do know how hard it is because I’m to the point that I’m trying to drop 15 pounds and I cannot do it.
I kind of know where you are coming from as a year ago last May I weighed 240 and hadn’t exercised in years. I went on the South Beach (and started a walk/run program) and dropped 25 pounds in a month. Then I kicked up my exercise and needed the carbs so I came off South Beach and ate a healthy diet. I ended up taking a total 75 pound off in about 8 months and I’ve been around 165-170 since. (I’m 5’7".)
In any event, it’s been a struggle to try and get under 165. But… I’d much rather be where I am now -vs- the big, fat, lay lard-arse I was!
Ummm, this is akin to wishing you had lost a limb. There are tons of people out there who get to the 300+lbs and never come back. They weigh so much that it’s too much work for them to even walk.
As you said, you should be happy you are smart enough to keep yourself fit.
I’ve never been that much overweight, but I was on the path to it. I was about 60lbs overweight at one time. Luckily, I woke up and am now in the best shape of my life.
My ex-wife probably lost 200-300 pounds while we were married and she never weighed more than 145. She would yo-yo up and down between 115 and 145 as she prepared for fitness competitions (competes at the pro level) and then let herself go several times a year. Not very healthy. Also a recipe to be miserable and bitchy. When She was in diet mode she was always irritable and hungry. After a show she would have tons of cravings that must be met. So she would balloon in a hurry, bloated and miserable from indigestion but she would do it everytime. At times I felt like I was living in a reality TV show watching her train hard and starve herself and drop ~30 pounds in 6-8 weeks, she would look good for ~1 week, then the gorging would begin. From water weight alone she would typically put on 10-15 pounds in the first couple of days! Then the another 20 at a rate of 3-5 pounds a week to where she was mad at herself and miserable and she felt too fat to be seen in the gym or anywhere else.
Typical conversation with her 2-3 weeks after a competion:
Her: “I can’t believe I did that to myself again! Don’t ever let me do that again.”
Me: “Maybe you should start exercising again? You have been an athlete your whole life, I know that you like to work out just for fun. So start exercising and I bet you will start making better food choices.”
how in the heck did she drop 30 pounds in 6 to 8 weeks??
i know alot of people that do those types of shows…some stay lean all year, some ball up like a balloon. i don’t know how they do it…year after year after year…
I wish I were fat too. A lot of things in my life have gotten difficult since I lost 50 pounds. I have to buy new clothes. I have to watch what I eat constantly. I am still in the back of the pack and everything still hurts when I finish a race. I have retrain my mind to think I’m skinny - I still look in the mirror and don’t see the weight loss. I have to constantly tell myself I can never live like that again. This is hard work!
Being fat was easier. However, I’d rather go through all of that than get diabetes, heart disease and die by the time I’m 40! I was well on my way to that.
how in the heck did she drop 30 pounds in 6 to 8 weeks??
i know alot of people that do those types of shows…some stay lean all year, some ball up like a balloon. i don’t know how they do it…year after year after year…
Under normal circumstances of balanced eating with consistent exercise she is around 130 pounds. 145 is 15 pounds above “normal” and ~10 pounds of it is water weight which comes off easily. Over 5-6 weeks she could drop from 135 to the low 120’s from a psychotic obsessed unhealthy lifestyle. The last week before the show is designed to drop 5+ pounds of water weight from manipulating water, sodium and carbs. Also the use of an over the counter diuretic such as dandelion or taraxatone (She never used anything illegal) can get a couple more pounds of water weight. To sum it up:
Basically 145 is super bloated
130-135 normal looking
Low 120’s incredibly lean
115 artificially low body weight due to dropping water weight the week of competions.
The “psychotic obsessed unhealthy lifestyle” I mentioned earlier consisted of doing two cardio sessions a day, lifting 6 days a week, Doing gymnastics/dancing/choregraphing 4-6 days per week all while consuming ~1000-1200 calories per day. To compensate for the lack of calories/ supress appetite and get a boost of energy she would take thermogenic pills at a dosage higher than recomended on the bottle. She called the thermogenic “fake energy”.
Eric…I know this was written in boredom, but cherish your health. You get to do things without even thinking of the outcome. Weight truly traps you.
I see overweight/obese/morbidly obese everyday. One of my patients lost 100 lbs in one year. Her loss was so quick her skin can’t catch up. I am so proud of her dedication, and she mentions that when she gains again in the future she knows what to do different. I am working at re-wiring her thought pattern so that she NEVER gains that severe again. The fact that she is alive is a miracle.
Various things patients that have lost huge amounts (excess of 75lbs) that have been said to me, that I would have never thought about:
can finally wipe my butt normally (that one blew my mind)
can finally go on amusement rides for the first time in their life
and my favorite one…not afraid of breaking furniture.
One of my patients is absolutly stunning after her weight loss, and she has no clue how beautiful she is…I am working on her with her self-esteem (and getting her into shorter skirts!). Many things get lost when body weight changes you, it changes more than just your appearance. I can’t imagine what happens to your psyche when you think that you were carrying around the weight of a small kid. Kudos to those reclaiming their health–they need more ‘props’ because of what is going on internally than you do with your regular life. You should see my one patient struggle with the wall squats I have to beg her to do at least 3 times a week for maybe 2 minutes!!! Baby steps, but no different than our training, just smaller, and she hurts way more than us. You are VERY lucky Eric.
by the way guys, while I know this thread was started in boredom, Eileen’s got it right. I could stand to drop 5 lbs or maybe a little more, but that would be to make me more efficient and faster in racing and training. is it a health issue? NO. and I’m very, very grateful for that fact.
I’m not going to accuse you of wishing for a missing limb, or not understanding the agony of the morbidly obese or any other travesty. I AM going to accuse you of framing your point with enough satire (or is it irony) that readers have to be trying not to get it.
B - never been in rehab, or had to earn my kids back from social services either. Just a boring life of daily battles.
Reply: You know, sometimes I wish I was fat. Like 300 pounds fat. You know why? Because I know that I could get back down to 180 in no time. People are so amazed at Joe because he went from 323 to 176 in 18 months and that is so impressive. It isn’t as impressive for someone to stay at around 176 for their entire lives. Well, it doesn’t gather as much “Wow!” appeal from other people. I guess I have to have the personal satisfaction of not being overweight and that’s it.
The thing I find strange is people who are overweight ask the person who yo-yo loses a lot of weight how to do it instead of asking the person who is lean how they stay that way. The person who stays at 176 their entire live probably knows more about healthy living and weight maintenance than the now 176 / former 323 who in most cases will be back at the 323 in a year or two.
