Friend 11month Before and After

[MasteroniPepperoni]

Very motivational! She should be proud of herself. Took control and made a huge change. 100 pounds is nuts

 

[MasteroniPepperoni]

@maldorf @OuchThatHurts

Not only is it a physically hard job, but think about the mental aspect. This is what makes a transformation like this so special. As an rn, you're exposed to so much. Death, suffering, etc. Depression is huge in that field and obviously this will affect one's ability to stick to a diet.

 

[OuchThatHurts]

Congrats to her.
You are a great friend to her.
Will she become PM member now?


MS

I'll ask her, LOL. I'll definitely show her all the support she got from the boys here.

 

[kastro]

Damn that is great transformation.Good for her and props to you bro.

 

[maldorf]

@maldorf @OuchThatHurts

Not only is it a physically hard job, but think about the mental aspect. This is what makes a transformation like this so special. As an rn, you're exposed to so much. Death, suffering, etc. Depression is huge in that field and obviously this will affect one's ability to stick to a diet.

Yes. A lot of folks use food as a coping mechanism to deal with stress. So very hard to change habits when you've been doing it for so many years. Nursing is a tough job, especially these days.

 

[qbkilla]

@maldorf @OuchThatHurts

Not only is it a physically hard job, but think about the mental aspect. This is what makes a transformation like this so special. As an rn, you're exposed to so much. Death, suffering, etc. Depression is huge in that field and obviously this will affect one's ability to stick to a diet.

This is true. I wouldn't say it's hard mentally because the stuff you see but the sheer burnout and the effects that has mentally too. And physically energy level. When dieting very low say 2 k I can control the hunger with if and using bulky foods and veggies, but my energy is gone in 2 weeks. I'll pull up to the grocery store rather than going immediately in I'll sit there play on my phone like it's a chore to do anything.

The positive, people who are busy at work don't have time to think about food vs people who work from home or ride the gravy train/ don't work.

 

[Durro]

Good job both of you

 

[fisther69]

Did you use any kind of specific diet, or did you just make her eat like a healthy person?

I’m always curious about macros when people lose that much weight.

Congratulations to both of you

 

[Flex500]

Amazing! That is so awesome!

 

[b-boy]

Been working with her over the last year and change. 11 months CKD with one fast day every other week with sustained AM and PM cardio plus 2 days per week weight training. Full body workouts both days. Down 103lbs as of today. Called me in tears to say she's wearing XS scrubs today from XXLs. Currently 117lbs down from 220lbs. 53 years old. I think she looks fantastic! Cut her resting heart rate by 30% and her BP and cholesterol are normal. She is no longer taking metformin. Her glucose clearance times indicate she is no longer type-II diabetic. Hepatic panel all normal. Today is a good day!

View attachment 153674View attachment 153675

 

[maldorf]

This is true. I wouldn't say it's hard mentally because the stuff you see but the sheer burnout and the effects that has mentally too. And physically energy level. When dieting very low say 2 k I can control the hunger with if and using bulky foods and veggies, but my energy is gone in 2 weeks. I'll pull up to the grocery store rather than going immediately in I'll sit there play on my phone like it's a chore to do anything.

The positive, people who are busy at work don't have time to think about food vs people who work from home or ride the gravy train/ don't work.

Another tough thing about people like nurses that work long shifts is that it's real easy to fall into the trap of eating unhealthy food.

 

[qbkilla]

Another tough thing about people like nurses that work long shifts is that it's real easy to fall into the trap of eating unhealthy food.

This. When your burnt out from work the last thing you want to do when you get home is make a healthy meal, much easier to just grab a snack and relax.

 

[HOOLIGAN]

Incredible transformation!
As I get older I'm more impressed with this type of healthy transformation than a Nick Walker transformation (although his was also incredible by bodybuilding standards).

 

[pupu]

Great job.

 

[Rainmanisback]

Been working with her over the last year and change. 11 months CKD with one fast day every other week with sustained AM and PM cardio plus 2 days per week weight training. Full body workouts both days. Down 103lbs as of today. Called me in tears to say she's wearing XS scrubs today from XXLs. Currently 117lbs down from 220lbs. 53 years old. I think she looks fantastic! Cut her resting heart rate by 30% and her BP and cholesterol are normal. She is no longer taking metformin. Her glucose clearance times indicate she is no longer type-II diabetic. Hepatic panel all normal. Today is a good day!

View attachment 153674View attachment 153675

Bravo!!!

 

[OuchThatHurts]

We had a lot to overcome. Without wandering too far into the weeds with bloodwork numbers and enumeration of all natural supplements employed, hours and minutes on this and that and so forth, we noted improvements in all the following health areas (most all associated with obesity). I was hesitant to post this because this is after all, a bodybuilding board, and Tace has no plans to be a competitor. She's just a woman trying to be healthy. Seeing the positive response here does my heart good. Feel free to read on if you're interested in what we had to overcome and how it may possibly relate to your own goals as well.

WEIGHT - Obviously weight initially came off very fast in March, April, and May of last year but exponentially slower as time went on. Most of us here are VERY familiar with this conundrum. I cannot stress enough the importance of frequent and sustained cardiovascular exercise. Bodybuilders of ProM take heed on this. This is gold for all of us during day-to-day life (leading into competition is far more complicated but in general this remains true).

In the correct amounts, aerobic exercise will not affect your gains. In fact will actually enhance your anaerobic training and endurance in the gym thereby increasing hypertrophy. Aerobic exercise correctly applied, even on rest days will not cut into your recovery as your body is burning oxygen and not sugars and vital nutrients necessary for growth and recovery. If you are feeling the burn (lactic acidosis) or pacing yourself too hard up to CNS burnout, you're doing it wrong. Prolonged increased breathing and heart rate is all you need. This is not a stress or endurance test. Applied correctly this will actually increase blood flow to muscle tissue and expedite nutrients to aid recovery and skeletal muscular hypertrophy.

This is not fasted cardio. You WANT nutrients in your blood. Fasted cardio is a common practice but almost always contrary to your (our) goals. I do not recommend it. You do not lose weight during the cardio. That's not the point. The weight loss will happen through the week-in week-out increase in basal metabolic rate and not the few hundred calories you burn during a cardio session. You don't need to put yourself through that hell. It should be invigorating, not exhausting. Those few calories burned during an aerobic session pale in comparison to even a small 24/7 increase in basal metabolic rate.

Moving on, this is what worked for us. It has worked for me too.

EDEMA - With poor blood flow, blood pools in hands, ankles, and feet (extremities) and fluid will bleed out through capillary walls into the surrounding tissue creating swollen areas of extracellular fluid called edema. This can be helped with compression hosiery but this is only a bandaid. With improved vascular function and efficiency, fluid is no longer able to pool in the areas and the edema dissipates. She no longer has edema.

CARDIAC HYPERTROPHY - This is a thickening of heart muscle due to increased strain and stress but she is now normalizing. An enlarged heart and thickening of ventricular walls is bad, bad, bad for all the obvious reasons we discuss here all the time.

HIGH BLOOD PRESSURE - Oy. This was terrible at first with 190-210/100-120 not uncommon. This was entirely the result of poor health and cardiovascular fitness and the additional bodyweight. She feels far less fatigue with her numbers today at 120-130/70-80. For a female I'd like to see this a little lower so I recommended she continue her Lisinopril. She will likely be on it for the rest of her life.

FATTY LIVER (FLD) - The prominant distension in her gut due to enlarged liver and fatty viscera had greatly diminished her liver and wrecked her lipids, indigestion, reflux, and liver function values were a result. The indigestion and stomach problems are all but a memory now. Her liver panel is well within normal range today.

TYPE-II DIABETES - The toll on her body due to elevated blood glucose and poor insulin sensitivity was nothing short of catastrophic. She was not on board with periodic fasting at first. But after going through this with her in detail a few times she reluctantly got on board. I didn't want to discourage her though. Many of you have fasted and know how the mind plays tricks on you. I was able to convince her to give me two days per month spread apart. Combined with her metformin (Glucophage) which we increased from 500 to 750mg/day, this made a huge difference. Once she began to understand that the more she could improve her insulin sensitivity, the more calories she could consume efficiently, it clicked. And I got no more pushback on fasting. Today, although her diabetes is in the rear view mirror, it will never be far behind for the remainder of her life. I made this very clear to her.

The rest you already know. We did a twice/week full body workout with plate loaded machines and some free weight (mostly dumbell work). A CKD (Cro-Magnon Diet) with periodic fasting. We used no drugs in terms of performance. The one bright spot was her fT4 and fT3 and TSH were surprisingly normal. And I don't mess with a good thing. Her kidney function was also acceptable.

It was a steep learning curve for her on macros and micros. We did add NAC, ALA, additional zinc, folic acid, D3, niacin, ascorbic acid, fish/krill, along with her multivitamin and increased water intake. The rest is outlined here in the thread. We will increase her calories from 1750 to a looser 2000-2250 of nutritious high protein, low glycemic index carbs, healthy fats, and essential vitamin-rich foods and go from there. Other than real honey, simple sugars are still not in her future (nor mine). The cardio will continue with weight training. But we will lighten the cardio load to a single session on an aerobic day alternating with full body anaerobic training days going forward.

 

[maldorf]

We had a lot to overcome. Without wandering too far into the weeds with bloodwork numbers and enumeration of all natural supplements employed, hours and minutes on this and that and so forth, we noted improvements in all the following health areas (most all associated with obesity). I was hesitant to post this because this is after all, a bodybuilding board, and Tace has no plans to be a competitor. She's just a woman trying to be healthy. Seeing the positive response here does my heart good. Feel free to read on if you're interested in what we had to overcome and how it may possibly relate to your own goals as well.

WEIGHT - Obviously weight initially came off very fast in March, April, and May of last year but exponentially slower as time went on. Most of us here are VERY familiar with this conundrum. I cannot stress enough the importance of frequent and sustained cardiovascular exercise. Bodybuilders of ProM take heed on this. This is gold for all of us during day-to-day life (leading into competition is far more complicated but in general this remains true).

In the correct amounts, aerobic exercise will not affect your gains. In fact will actually enhance your anaerobic training and endurance in the gym thereby increasing hypertrophy. Aerobic exercise correctly applied, even on rest days will not cut into your recovery as your body is burning oxygen and not sugars and vital nutrients necessary for growth and recovery. If you are feeling the burn (lactic acidosis) or pacing yourself too hard up to CNS burnout, you're doing it wrong. Prolonged increased breathing and heart rate is all you need. This is not a stress or endurance test. Applied correctly this will actually increase blood flow to muscle tissue and expedite nutrients to aid recovery and skeletal muscular hypertrophy.

This is not fasted cardio. You WANT nutrients in your blood. Fasted cardio is a common practice but almost always contrary to your (our) goals. I do not recommend it. You do not lose weight during the cardio. That's not the point. The weight loss will happen through the week-in week-out increase in basal metabolic rate and not the few hundred calories you burn during a cardio session. You don't need to put yourself through that hell. It should be invigorating, not exhausting. Those few calories burned during an aerobic session pale in comparison to even a small 24/7 increase in basal metabolic rate.

Moving on, this is what worked for us. It has worked for me too.

EDEMA - With poor blood flow, blood pools in hands, ankles, and feet (extremities) and fluid will bleed out through capillary walls into the surrounding tissue creating swollen areas of extracellular fluid called edema. This can be helped with compression hosiery but this is only a bandaid. With improved vascular function and efficiency, fluid is no longer able to pool in the areas and the edema dissipates. She no longer has edema.

CARDIAC HYPERTROPHY - This is a thickening of heart muscle due to increased strain and stress but she is now normalizing. An enlarged heart and thickening of ventricular walls is bad, bad, bad for all the obvious reasons we discuss here all the time.

HIGH BLOOD PRESSURE - Oy. This was terrible at first with 190-210/100-120 not uncommon. This was entirely the result of poor health and cardiovascular fitness and the additional bodyweight. She feels far less fatigue with her numbers today at 120-130/70-80. For a female I'd like to see this a little lower so I recommended she continue her Lisinopril. She will likely be on it for the rest of her life.

FATTY LIVER (FLD) - The prominant distension in her gut due to enlarged liver and fatty viscera had greatly diminished her liver and wrecked her lipids, indigestion, reflux, and liver function values were a result. The indigestion and stomach problems are all but a memory now. Her liver panel is well within normal range today.

TYPE-II DIABETES - The toll on her body due to elevated blood glucose and poor insulin sensitivity was nothing short of catastrophic. She was not on board with periodic fasting at first. But after going through this with her in detail a few times she reluctantly got on board. I didn't want to discourage her though. Many of you have fasted and know how the mind plays tricks on you. I was able to convince her to give me two days per month spread apart. Combined with her metformin (Glucophage) which we increased from 500 to 750mg/day, this made a huge difference. Once she began to understand that the more she could improve her insulin sensitivity, the more calories she could consume efficiently, it clicked. And I got no more pushback on fasting. Today, although her diabetes is in the rear view mirror, it will never be far behind for the remainder of her life. I made this very clear to her.

The rest you already know. We did a twice/week full body workout with plate loaded machines and some free weight (mostly dumbell work). A CKD (Cro-Magnon Diet) with periodic fasting. We used no drugs in terms of performance. The one bright spot was her fT4 and fT3 and TSH were surprisingly normal. And I don't mess with a good thing. Her kidney function was also acceptable.

It was a steep learning curve for her on macros and micros. We did add NAC, ALA, additional zinc, folic acid, D3, niacin, ascorbic acid, fish/krill, along with her multivitamin and increased water intake. The rest is outlined here in the thread. We will increase her calories from 1750 to a looser 2000-2250 of nutritious high protein, low glycemic index carbs, healthy fats, and essential vitamin-rich foods and go from there. Other than real honey, simple sugars are still not in her future (nor mine). The cardio will continue with weight training. But we will lighten the cardio load to a single session on an aerobic day alternating with full body anaerobic training days going forward.

Great plan,and the results speak for themselves. How is she dealing with her new diet, practically speaking? I just worry about her ability to sustain it the remainder of her life and not slowly fall back into old eating habits. With her busy job, it's got to be quite a bit of extra work for her to eat right.

Did you show her practical things like cooking larger amounts of food in one session and then saving most of it for multiple meals later in the week? I still cook a whole family pack of boneless chicken breasts on the grill and then eat off that the whole week.

 

[OuchThatHurts]

Great plan,and the results speak for themselves. How is she dealing with her new diet, practically speaking? I just worry about her ability to sustain it the remainder of her life and not slowly fall back into old eating habits. With her busy job, it's got to be quite a bit of extra work for her to eat right.

Did you show her practical things like cooking larger amounts of food in one session and then saving most of it for multiple meals later in the week? I still cook a whole family pack of boneless chicken breasts on the grill and then eat off that the whole week.

What I did is give her my list of acceptable proteins, carbs, and fats and from that long list, she can make whatever she likes in the proper proportions. The possibilities are endless. She's a good and creative cook. As for sustaining it year over year for many years? I like to think she will but that is never a guarantee. Maybe once the compliments disappear and the atta girls are gone, she'll slide back. You never really know.

Someone gave me a diet plan 25 years ago and I've had ups and downs sure, but over that time I've actually built on it. Improved on it. So much that my current diet scarcely resembles the diet of 25 years ago. I like to hope that she will do the same.

One other factor is that we are friends for life so hopefully I can be around to give her a nudge or pep talk if she needs it. But if a person goes through a painful divorce, a death in the family, becomes injured, or develops an illness, all bets are off and it can go either way. The reason I agreed to help her is that she cannot fall back into old habits because her old habits were relatively healthy. It's only been in the last 7-10 years that things went off the rails. For people who have always been unhealthy, it is far more difficult. Especially past a certain age.

Eventually she'll have to 'leave the nest' so to to speak and either fly or fall. We have little control over the things life can throw at us. We do our best and what happens, happens.

 

[OuchThatHurts]

Lastly, she wants some cosmetic stuff done. Spider veins in her legs, feet, and ankles and I thought maybe for Christmas, if she sticks with the plan, I'd get her some laser work for some extra skin here and there, some finishing touches. Then she'll be tightened up.

 

[maldorf]

Lastly, she wants some cosmetic stuff done. Spider veins in her legs, feet, and ankles and I thought maybe for Christmas, if she sticks with the plan, I'd get her some laser work for some extra skin here and there, some finishing touches. Then she'll be tightened up.

How about lose skin hanging? That can be a big problem after losing nearly half your body weight.