My History:

I have been overweight my whole life.  I was born over weight.  Even when I played high school football I weighed 265 pounds.  As an adult I have never been under 300 lbs.  My all time high was 440 lbs.  I have dieted off and on my entire adult life.  I have never been the size of a normal person for my age at any time in my life.

I have had two surgeries in my life.  Shoulder, torn rotator cuff.  Knee, replacement.  No jogging or running for me.

Current Info:

I am 61 YO and 6' 2" tall.  Approximatly 6 months ago after getting very bad blood test report I changed my eatting habits.  I weighed 377 lbs at that time. I am currently at 305.  I have seen a lot of fat men and I have seen a lot of old men but I haven't seen any old fat men.  That will be my only attempt at humor because this is deadly serious to me at this point.

About 8-10 weeks ago I started walking.  Not far at first, only a few blocks.  Over a few weeks I built it up to 1.5 miles.  The company I work for bought what is basically a mini gym.  I can now come in early and workout before work.

My workout:

I do my workouts fasting.  IE: First thing in the morning before breakfast.

M,T,W,T,F Treadmill, 3-5 degrees incline, 3-3.2 speed for 30-35 minutes with 2.5 minute cool down.  Situps, 50

M,W,F Weight training, arms, shoulders, legs, back, abs using barbells, dumbbells, cable machines, kettle bells, resistance bands etc.  In addition to the treadmill and situps.

T, T Squats 90-100, sand bags (kind of a quazi crossfit kinda thing) 5 sandbags weighing 25 pounds each.  Start with them on the floor. one at a time stack them on top of each other on top of a 4 foot table.  Go around the table stack them off the table one at a time onto the floor then one at a time back onto the table then back to the other side of the table and stack them bock onto the floor, continue as long as you can go.  In addition to the treadmill and situps.

Food:

I don't eat anything white.  Rice, potatoes, pasta, milk or bread.  I rarely eat eat brown rice or 100% whole wheat bread.  I do occasionally eat sweet potatoes.

I cut out sugar.  To the degree that you can cut sugar out as it seems to be in EVERYTHING.  If it has more that 5 grams I don't eat it.  No dessert, no cake, pie, cookies, candy etc.  No soft drinks diet or regular.  I drink water or diet green tea.

No fried or breaded food.  The oils we use are olive oil, coconut oil or olive oil Pam.  

When I eat fruit I try to eat apples, strawberries, blueberries, blackberries and occasionally bananas.  I eat some nuts.  Raw almonds usually.

Meal Examples:

Breakfast Monday - Friday 1 cup of quick oats with 1 scoop of protein powder with just enough unsweetened almond milk to wet it all.   Sat and Sun 1 cup of egg whites with 1/2 an avocado.

Lunch examples, a pack of tuna packed in water with 1/2 an avocado.  Or, 3-4 slices of turkey breast and a cup of fat free cottage cheese with 1/2 scoop of protein powder mixed in.  Or steamed cabbage and turkey breast.  Or salad with no dressing.

Dinner examples, Grilled chicken breast and salad.  Grilled salmon and broccoli or asparagus.  Rotisserie chicken and steamed cabbage.  Small grilled hamburger steak 93/7 and spinach with some type of beans.  Occasionally a lean cut grilled steak with sweet potato.

This is the best I can do, I don't understand Macros.

My problem:  For 4 weeks in a row I have bounced back and forth between 303-305.  I have not lost any weight or any size.  I weigh at the same time every Friday and I have a new pair of pants that don't fit any better no than they did 5 weeks ago.

I have read about plateaus, but a four week plateau! ???  

What I am Not:  I am not a body builder.  I don't care how I look at the beach or at the pool, I don't go to either.  I'm not trying to shed a few pounds to delineate muscle groups for a competition.  There is nothing wrong with this, it's just not what I'm chasing.

What I am:  I'm an old man who has been fat his whole life and is trying hard to get a lot weight off.  I'm at a fork in the road and don't know which way to go.  I can't help but feel that if this attempt does not work that that's it.  I am working my ass off and results have stopped.  It is discouraging, depressing and disappointing.

I want this to work and at the risk of sound overly dramatic; I don't want to die.......

Thought?

David

Give yourself some Vitamin B12 injections. They'll help clear your mind of such thoughts and give you a motivation boost. I do it twice a week, and they work out at about $3 per shot. Just stay away from the Cyanocobalamin variant.

Dave,

It is understandable how you feel - especially as you are now older. The hardest part of this journey is we are conditioned to expect and want quick satisfaction and quick results. It is apparent from your descriptions that you are somone who has a metabolism that is not very efficient at using the calories you ingest. There is nothing wrong with that but it does require more attention to your meal plan and eating patterns.

It sounds like you have a pretty solid meal plan and are avoiding the types of foods you should - especially added and simple sugars and processed foods - and getting the proper ratio of macros. Unfortunately, changing your physique is a marathon not a sprint. Some people will have a longer journey than others. First off, you need to get an idea of what your ideal weight is based on your height and age. You may very well be quite healthy at 240 Lbs or so. Second, you need to monitor your body fat levels NOT your weight. Your weight is not a good indicator of your progress as it is affected by water weight, time of day, and the foods you eat. Body fat is the only accurate measurement of physique transition success. As you lose body fat, you will possible gain more muscle or at least tone the muscle you have. The scale doesn't accurately reflect this change. Body fat - especially the visceral fat that is under your abs and around your internal organs - is the fat that will kill you not subcutaneous fat immediately under your skin. This is why your attention should be focused here.

It will take much longer than 4 weeks to get to where you need to be. It could take 12-18 months to get to a healthy weight. This is why the scale is your worst enemy but your clothes and the mirror will be your best friends. Keep doing what you are doing and know that each day you are losing fat - even if it is a couple of millimeters. Over time it all adds up. This will be reflected in your clothes getting looser and friends and family noticing a change in your physique. I wish I could make this easier for you and tell you that you will not hit these peaks and valleys. The reality is that you will have highs and lows (like now). The key is to not let it consume you mentally and keep pushing. If you are truly consistent in your eating and training as you have outlined in your original post, I promise you that each day you are losing fat even though it is not clearly visible or measurable. Avoid the scale and focus only on your nutrition and meal plan.

John

Thanks very much for your response and advise John. Sometimes a good nights rest helps clear the frustration and agrivation from your head even though the battle is still there. I'll continue the mission but I do have a few questions please. 1, How do I determine what my ideal weight should be for my height and age as you mention and 2, how do you measure you body fat levels?

I was using scales because that's all I have and all I knew to use plus the fact that I am so eager to get under 300 lbs for the first time in my adult life.

David

David it is AMAZING that you lost 70 lbs in 6 months so now is the time to be optimistic and proud of a journey very well started. I'm halfway through a book you might find interesting, "Why We Get Fat (and what to do about it)" by Gary Taubes. He cites a large number of studies to argue the "calories in v. calories out" and low-fat standard diet advice is very wrong and harmful. Essentially he says its not about willpower (eat less and move more) but rather about endocrinology (hormones and metabolism) and eating the right foods (whole foods, including meat, eggs, cheese and especially PLANTS) and avoiding the wrong ones (carbohydrates and sugars --all processed foods, grains, etc). You seem to be mostly following his advice already in your new diet. He also says the exercise approach to losing weight --and the correlated "eat less" approach-- doesn't work beyond a few months because the body adjusts the appetite up and down based on energy needs of your activity level. Exercise is great for health and looking and feeling good, but not a weight loss plan in itself because your appetite will increase. I highly recommend the book as relevant and very "digestable" and possibly life-changing.

I hope you'll continue to post on this website about your progress! --Will.

Weight at first falls off then slowly toppers off to a point where from week to week you may even see a pound gained. I started at 320lbs.. within 40 days dropped 32lbs and by end of 90 days 63lbs or so. By 6 months 80lbs and then the wall. Slammed into it hard. Our body gets to a point where we've got to find a way to shock it back into line.

For me it has been constantly dialing in my food. Simply cutting sugars and junk at first was all I had to do. However as you take more control your body requires certain things and isn't carrying around the reserves it used to. For me I went and got a full physical, stress test and all. Figured out my rest metabolic rate and knowing my body reacts negatively to carbs worked with Scott and this community to get a meal plandscape and my macros dialed in.

I'd say you are at a point where you need to get a solid meal plan with balanced macros and a exercise program that compliments it.

Also be patient my friend... it's not a sprint it's a marathon. You got this!!!

David,

For your questions:

1) There are several charts on the Internet if you do a Google search. Don't search for BMI calculators but rather something around ideal weight or weight/height proportion calculators:

ideal weight and height calculators

2) Outside of body fat skin calipers, it may be worth investing in a Skulpt body fat device - www.skulpt.me

John

Hi.

I'm an old man who doesn't have a damn thyroid (lost it because of cancer). I weighed 350 lbs a little over two years ago. I'm at 172.4 lbs right now. I got help from my endocrinologist and used MFP to start me at first. Then I started going to the gym. Twice a week at first - eventually I moved up to four times a week.

It looks like you have a good idea of what you need to do and are doing it. You have a fat guy in your head telling you that it's pointless and you can't. He likes to say you'll always be like you are now. I have one also. God help me, I've slipped up and listened to that SOB more than once. Each time I've had to fight to get back to normal. We both need to beat our respective fat guys down and sit on them so they'll shut up.

You and I are brothers in this. The people here are good people. They know a lot and can offer a lot of help. I am willing to offer what help I can (though mine is more limited to moral support and cheerleading).

If you think my experience can help you, I am willing to help. We're in this together.

Take care.

 Thanks everyone very much for your responses. I was back in the gym this morning. I won't give up. I don't fully understand where my answer is yet but I know it's not quiting. I'm sure I will have more questions here before I find the answer and invite any further advice you have to offer. I really appreciate the support!!

David

Jeff, I'm sorry for my ignorance but what is MFP?

David

MFP=MyFitnessPal. It's a meal logging/calorie counting app that my enocrinologist recommended that I use. The meal planner here looks pretty good also but it has a little steeper of a learning curve (at least for me).

Have you been playing with it now that you have an android? :-D

Still trying it out - schedule's kind of hectic right now because I'm headed into tech for a show and I'm trying to bmp out my calories to stop my weight loss. My problem withe meal plan was with putting in food - sometimes the database is a little sketchy. But that could be a learning curve issue also

Hi Dave, I started with Gary Taubes' "Why We Get Fat" because the reviews (and publisher's description) said it was less technical for the layman.  Those critical said it contained nothing new and was just the dumbed-down version of his earlier book "Good Calories, Bad Calories."  I will read that book soon, but I started with this first one to make it an easier introduction to the science.  He's also due to publish a new book in December called "The Case Against Sugar," which of course I'll read, mainly to help me understand and explain to others why I feel so much better now that I've eliminated added sugars from my diet.

But if you take Taubes seriously, then I highly recommend the book "The Art and Science of Low Carbohydrate Living" by Volek and Phinney, which is aimed at both non-scientists like me and at medical doctors who want to understand the science of how and why a very low carbohydrate diet helps people transform their health, both in terms of weight and also in terms of metabolic diseases.  If you really want to try a very low carbohydrate diet, then there are certain precautions and principles necessary so it works for you and doesn't cause problems. The book goes deep into this. At the core, it involves the body making a metabolic transition from using carbohydrates (ultimately glucose) as main energy source to replacing it with fat and the ketones they metabolize into.  There is a transition period of 2-3 weeks where you may feel low-energy but they say that once the body makes the transition the very low carbohydrate diet is a sustainable lifestyle that will feel great and make many people feel and be much healthier.

Personally I have so far only casually and imperfectly moved towards a very low carbohydrate diet, but I intend to try it seriously and rigorously soon, once I've read enough to understand what I'm doing and how to do it right.

Hey @SC_Dave - how're you going, after all this time?