Hi.

[stumblewyk]

I'm a 33 year-old overweight geek.  If you could look at my body in three component parts, my upper body is in pretty good shape.  My lower body is in really good shape.  My mid-section is flabby and fat.  Spare tire and what-not.

 

I've had a gut for a long as I can remember.  Honestly.  From a very early age I was keenly aware that I had something extra hanging off my stomach area.  I'm trying to get rid of it, as well as some other weight I gained while on Zoloft a few year back.  I've noticed some changes, but progress is insanely slow.  I'm running/walking with a 6 incline on a treadmill 2-3 times a week, and doing a home free-weight routine on alternate days, as well as logging my food intake.  I've cut calories, and I've lost *some* weight, but I've plateaued at about 227 lbs. (down from 240 at the start of the year) for what seems like weeks now.

 

I've got 2 issues I'm fighting against here:

 

#1) I don't know jack-squat about fitness.  I'm working with bit and pieces I've picked up from my wife's numerous weight loss attempts and programs, from occasionally watching Biggest Loser, and from 2 failed attempts at joining a gym.  I hope some of the info I can get here can help me remedy this.

 

#2) I've got a bad knee.  Like, a really bad knee.  The treadmill doesn't seem to bother it (good news), but doing anything squat/lunge-related drives me up a wall with pain.  I can do 2, maybe 3, lunges before I want to just collapse.  That makes proper weight training hard, in my experience.  I tend avoid anything that requires me to stabilize on my bad knee. I have NO FREAKING CLUE what to do about this.  Surgery isn't really a viable option, and I'm not exaggerating how much pain a lunge or weighted squat gives me.

 

So, that's me in a nutshell.  My goal is 200 lbs.  That's still heavier than my ideal weight, but if I can get to 200, I figure I can readjust things when I get there and lose more weight if I want to then.

 

Yeah.

[Laureleye]

I have a lot of trouble losing weight as well, being hypothyroid  I had been using weight watchers with no luck whatsoever.  I finally decided to change what I was eating (with no further reduction in the calorie count).  I cut out pretty much everything processed.  i replaced those calories with nuts, nut butter, avocados, and olive oil.  I'm not losing weight fast, but I have taken off 11 pounds of the 15-18 I've been trying to lose. 

 

I also have a bad knee.  The trick of course, is to build it up without hurting it more.  I don't have too much trouble with squats, but lunges killed me.  Steve advised me to substitute (body weight) split-squats and low step-ups (single step).  I did those for a couple of months before I could work up to a lunge (with support).  Now I'm up to 3x10 lunges with no support.  Since the squats are also giving you trouble, I'd recommend supported body-weight squats or chair squats if they don't hurt. 

 

There are lots of free resources available on the NERD FITNESS site (click the NERD FITNESS tab to get back there).  There is a guide to healthy eating, and a few body-weight workouts, which might be a better place for you to start due to your knee.  You can also read the rebel fitness guide itself (although you don't get the workout sheets, etc) if you go to the RFG page.  I bought the RFG and thought it was well worth the price. 

 

Welcome to the rebellion.  Feel free to shoot me a message if you have a question (hover over my name and you'll see the option).