Fatso Has Some Questions :)

[WolfsTemple]

So, I was a fatty most of my adult life and my parents never emphasized fitness growing up - I'm really ignorant about fitness matters. Did maybe 1 (assisted) Pull Up in my life 15 years ago just to satisfy the gym teacher PE requirements. I got tired of it went on a diet last May starting from 375lb (170kg) down to 325lb (147.5kg), hoping to get to 70-80kg (154lb to 176lb) to sometime latter half of next year. I started on an exercise bike, grew bored of it, and ditched it for a book/program called "You Are Your Own Gym" (YAYOG) by Special Ops Trainer Mark Lauren. It's entirely based on bodyweight exercises and basically no equipment (beyond, say a filled backpack).

The reason I bring that up is I found this site through youtube and many of the same excercises in that book are in gymnastics, like the iron cross or seated dips (korean dips) but taken to next level. For instance, my book has the iron crosses are on the ground and not in the air, and the seated dips have feet in front on the ground so the gymnastic version seem to be very much kindred spirits and the next step up.

The book has 4 programs with minimum requirements for starting them:

Basic Class - None

1st Class:

10 Push Ups with 2s pause top and bottom

10 Let Me Ups with legs straight, feet on ground

15 Back Lunges with 3s pause at bottom of movement

Hold a static Push Up position for 1 minute.

Master Class:

16 One Arm Push Ups with hands elevated on mid-thigh surface, 8 reps on each side

5 Pull Ups with 2s pause top and bottom

24 Alternating One Legged Squats, butt down just below knees

Hold a static Push Up position for 3 minutes.

Chief Class:

16 One Arm Push Ups, 8 each side

12 Pull Ups with 1 second pause top and bottom

24 Alternating Pistols, 12 each side

Hold a static Push Up position for 5 minutes.

It's expected to be able to do handstand push ups by the end of the end, 1-legged squats, flags, planches, etc

Now, I'm at modified beginner which is below even beginner (take beginner, modify push ups to elevated push ups, etc). :oops: And hope to work my way up. Having read the requirements on the program here, I know I'm not even close :oops: :oops: :oops: but.... is my current program a good lead in eventually to starting Gymnastic Bodies? At what level do you think YAYOG will equate to the beginner's program here roughly?

Also, besides the rings, is this a minimal equipment course? Or will I have to join a gym?

I would really like to have a long-term goal to work towards, and I saw this site, and it looks totally like the next level of the book I was doing, and even if it takes 18-24 months to get there, I'd just like to know if you guys concurred with that.

[Joshua Naterman]

That's a good basic intro to what this program does, and to answer your biggest question your bodyweight will be what allows you to start getting more up to speed with what we do here! The more fat you lose the closer you will be to really getting started here!

I have that book as well, I collect good training books, and it really is a good one. What we have going here is pretty much equally minimalistic, so there's nothing to worry about. A pull up bar and some rings is all you need. Almost everything else can be done with chairs or whatever else you have laying around, just like YAYOG.

My suggestion for you is to keep doing what you're doing, because it's basically a scaled back version of what we do here. Make sure you focus on doing as much for your back as you do for your chest!

To drop weight efficiently these are the rules, in order of importance.

Nutrition:

1) Cut out all added or artificial sugar from your diet. That includes anything sweetened with honey, it is the same as sugar or high fructose corn syrup or anything else, including sugar alcohols like maltitol. Stay away from ALL of that. Erythritol (used in Truvia) and Xylitol are ok, but again stay away from them because they WILL lead to sweets cravings. Take protein instead, you'll be surprised at how many cravings are actually protein cravings.

Acceptable sugars are fruits, preferably fruits with pits like peaches, plums, nectarines, cherries, etc. Apples are ok, be wary of bananas. It's hard to eat lots of apples but easy to plow through bananas. Don't have more than 2 pieces of fruit at 1 sitting, but don't be afraid to chow down on them throughout the day! Stay away from melons unless portions are very small, they are basically just like sugar. They absorb WAY too fast and it's easy to plow through it so either avoid or stay under control!

2) Get most of your carbs from veggies and roots. Sweet potatoes, squashes (including pumpkin), beets, brocolli, chinese broccoli, the choys, any greens you can think of and most other vegetables you are familiar with except for white potatoes (this includes "red" potatoes) and eggplants (highly inflammatory) are what you want. Get creative and make some great food!

3) Completely avoid trans fats and anything partially or fully hydrogenated. The easiest way to do this is to not eat processed foods. The easiest way to do THAT without shooting yourself is to use a crock pot and make large batches of chili with chicken or grass fed ground beef. Tastes great, is very very good for you, and is CHEAP + it cooks while you sleep. There are many other things you can make, but I suggest making lots of fresh vegetable meals with moderate amounts of meat.

Also, keep your fat intake at 20-30% of total calories and try to have a good bit of that either be coconut oil or olive oil that you use when cooking your veggies. Macadamia oil is good too but more expensive. It's all about what you can afford.

Exercise:

1) Interval training. I don't care what kind of equipment you use, just do moderate to hard intervals! You're looking for 15-60s of the fastest pace you can keep, followed by 1-2x rest time. Example: You take a walk. For 30 seconds you powerwalk as hard as you can, swinging your arms like a tin soldier and huff and puff like Thomas the Train. Then you take 30-60s of rest (slow pace, easy effort. This is NOT stop and sit down time!), and repeat. You're looking to start with at least 6 of those intervals, and you can do different times for different days depending on how you feel each day. One day you might do 60s as hard as you can (hold the hardest pace you think you can keep steady for 60s, don't go all out and then start dropping off!) on a bike and then rest for 2 minutes (rest means slowly pedal on an easy setting, it's active recovery not stop time!) and another day you may do the powerwalking, and yet another day you might feel really saucy and do 15s sprints on the elliptical and rest for 20-30s and then repeat.

This builds up tons of lactate which will have to be processed slowly over 3-5 hours once you're done. It is VERY important to not consume any fat during this time, only carbs (obviously there will be SOME fat here, but minimize without being all OCD about it) and protein. 70% of resting metabolism comes from fatty acids, which have to come from stored fat if you haven't eaten any! That's the magic of intervals.

To know you did this right you want to feel somewhat nauseous at the end of your workout. It will pass fairly quickly, but the nausea will let you know that you maxed out your lactate levels.

2) Strength training. Use whatever program you want to use. I recommend focusing on muscle growth, because the more muscle you have the more fat you will burn at rest due to the higher metabolism you will develop! That will help you the most with your weight loss efforts.

[Nicholas Sortino]

Acceptable sugars are fruits, preferably fruits with pits like peaches, plums, nectarines, cherries, etc. Apples are ok, be wary of bananas. It's hard to eat lots of apples but easy to plow through bananas. Don't have more than 2 pieces of fruit at 1 sitting, but don't be afraid to chow down on them throughout the day! Stay away from melons unless portions are very small, they are basically just like sugar. They absorb WAY too fast and it's easy to plow through it so either avoid or stay under control!

So have you changed your stance on fruit overall? I know most sources, including Poliquin, suggest only 1-3 servings a day (If i recall you used to), and berries as the main fruits of choice.

Any reasons in particular you changed your mind and why pitted fruits are above berries (which I have always been under the assumption and powerhouses of the fruit world.)?

[Joshua Naterman]

Berries are great, actually, they are just more expensive. Pitted fruits are lower in fructose and lower GI so they are a better option, but with few exceptions most fruits are easy to use in moderation.

For someone as overweight as the OP this is less important as they are able to drop enormous levels of bodyfat quickly compared to those of us who are fairly lean. When you get around 10-12% it can help a lot to space out the fruit more and sometimes consume less, but that gets more complicated. I am having no trouble staying pretty lean while eating tons of fruit, but I have most of my fruit on my fasting days. I have found that because I almost never eat more than 1 piece at a time and to some extent because I am so dialed in with what my body needs that if anything this helps. I don't want to go deeper into this, the subgroups of carbs and their usage when trying to get sub-10% is totally different than what this guy needs to know.

[Nicholas Sortino]

Of course. I didn't mean to hijack the thread.

To the OP. Congratulations on taking your health into your own hands. If only more people would follow your example. Don't be embarrassed about having to start small such as with elevated pushups. Everyone has to start somewhere, and soon you will be well beyond the average adult in terms of health and ability. Just take it slowly and listen to your body. But don't give up either just because it is hard. The results are certainly worth it.

I think where you are starting is great place. Follow that program with a healthy diet until you feel confident enough to start training gymnastic bodies, or whatever other fitness modality you enjoy most (I think this is the most important part. Enjoying what you do). The great thing about these programs is you need so little equipment. A good place to hang your rings, and something sturdy enough to hold yourself for dips (when you get there) and you are set.

[Joshua Naterman]

Nick: No worries man! I'm actually working on trying to get all of this info down in writing, but it takes a while to get it right. I'm just doing drafts right now and I'll have to go back and clean them up.

I agree, congrats to the OP! The most important thing is taking charge of your own life! That alone puts you in a fairly small group of individuals who are moving towards what I think of as real happiness. You're calling the shots and picking your direction, and to me that feels good. Keep up the great work!