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