Just wanted to write a blog to talk about what's new with me and two points in particular.. Mostly hand pain and the fact that I need to lose weight. These two things would affect anyyone, in Starcraft and in life.
So to start with, I wanted to share what I've started to do in regards to my weight. A week ago I weighed 312 pounds (141.5kg). My height is around 6'2 or so, which means I'm very likely considered "really obese" or something similar. I've been this weight for a while now, and before when I tried to lose weight I couldn't get past certain problems. The first main problem was that in the evenings I'd get really bad headaches and just not be able to sleep from time to time. And I could fix these headaches by eating a bunch of sugary foods. So in order to sleep and get rid of my headache I would eat way too many sweets and then fall asleep.
The other problem is that losing weight while traveling around and training as much as I do when I'm home is extremely tough. Many things will always be messed up food-wise at SC2 events. (MLG Arenas being the happy exception that proves the rule.) I realize both of these are simply excuses however. It's my fault that I'm overweight, because not all people who have to travel and get headaches are as well. So even though these are excuses, I realize they're not good ones and they are able to be overcome.
So now to get to the actual important part the whole "what am I doing about it?" part. I've tried plenty of diets. I've read a ton of books on working out, books on specific exercise (running, yoga etc) and books on diets (4hour body, and one other). None of these have kept me doing them for a long period of time. I think I was on one diet for around 2 weeks before I fell off and that was really a painful diet to be on. Interestingly enough my new plan comes from StarCraft kind of. Rob Verspui an old BW friend of Nazgul from the Netherlands who used to play under the ID ToT)Strafe(. He was helping people with dietary problems in Thailand, which is where he lives now.
After talking with Victor a bit, I got to talk with Robbie. I'd been struggling with hand injuries (Went to two doctors, both said 'we've done all the tests we can and its nothing we know of') for a while now. We decided that it would be smart for me to take a little break and to focus on my health first. Nazgul even said it would be fine for me to keep being paid even though I won't be playing SC2 during this time. This is extremely nice and something he didn't need to do. Just wanted to say how awesome that was for me...
Anyway onto the diet. So I explained my headaches, my sweet cravings in evenings, and we talked a lot about diet in general. He knows a ton of things and it was amazing listening to him and his ideas. The meat of this blog will be me sharing what his advice was and how it has affected me since then.
To begin with the diet is called the Paleo Diet. Its main point is to eat things that humans ate at a much earlier time—think cave men. The main point of this diet is two-fold; both exercise and the way you eat. I'll start with the food/diet part of it. The main things I can eat are any meats that have no preservatives, no hormones added, and that the animal wasn't caged and preferably was grass fed. Fruits and vegetables have to be fully organic. I can't eat things like wheat, rice, corn, bread and things like that. And the right cooking oils are very important to the diet too, right now I use coconut oil and it is absolutely amazing. So when I started in on this diet I seriously expected this food to taste horrible and for me to hate it, but to just soldier on through it and maybe eventually get used to it.
I'd only eaten say fat free, or low fat or health bars before and so I assumed other "healthy" food would taste bad like that. However it turns out that organic fruits are waaay better then normal fruits. Organic pears are so far my favorite and are absolutely amazing. Also meat when it's not hormone fed and no preservatives and raised properly just tastes better. If you think bacon is good, you would kick yourself for not knowing about organic bacon because it's way better as well. My basic breakfast is usually 3 eggs and 3 pieces of bacon and maybe 5 blueberries. My lunch is maybe a piece of chicken, bacon, pieces of ham, sea salt, lettuce and vinegar or olive oil. And I can eat however much of any of it that I want to, in fact the goal is to get really full off of these foods so I'm not hungry for anything else that's worse for me.
So that's the basics for the food part now to get into the exercise part. I've tried plenty of different exercises. Jogging was always my favorite, but I have torn meniscus in my left knee and this combined with me being overweight basically means a lot of pain if I jog a lot. I discussed this with Robbie and this is the plan he came up with: walk an hour a day, preferably outside. Every time I've been at the computer for an hour, I need to force myself to get up and stretch for 2-5 minutes. Twice a week I need to sprint 100m five times with a small break in between, and I need to go as fast as I can on a bike for 20 seconds, rest for 10 and repeat that 8 times and then do that 3-4 times a week. Also, I need to set a normal time for me to go to sleep by (say 2am) and then let myself sleep as long as I need to from that point. And interestingly enough for the headaches, whenever I seem to eat blueberries and strawberries it seems to help a little. So that's been a huge help as well.
That's pretty much the whole diet. I started this last Thursday and was at 312 pounds (141.5kg) and just very inactive and unhealthy feeling. As of this Friday I was at 301.5 pounds (136.7kg) and feeling healthier then I'd felt in a long time. Basically I feel this is really working well for me. I don't hate this diet like I've hated plenty of other diets. I get to talk with Robbie whenever I need help with the diet. And honestly I'm actually enjoying this. I get to eat tastier foods, more of them, and not feel guilty for doing it. And the exercise isn't too difficult and kind of fun. The first time I did the sprints I ended up throwing up afterwards, but it felt good knowing that I was hopefully getting over the toughest part. And since then it's just given me more energy afterwards. I started doing four 15 minute walks a day. Today I did one 45 minute walk before writing this and I plan on doing the other 15 later on. Still its much easier than when I started and it's only been around 9 days. If you want to learn more about this diet that I would strongly recommend checking out Robbie's Facebook!
I'm going to keep up with this as it is extremely important for me to get healthier. I hope that when I get back to playing SC2 full time I'll be in better shape both for my hands and for me. If you have any questions for me, you're more then welcome to ask in the comments and I'll answer as many as I can. So thanks a lot for taking the time to read this, and I'll try and write another blog in about a week to catch you up on if I've gained weight or lost weight or what. And maybe tweet or add another comment here if I'm having problems early, or find some other amazing food like natural bacon. Again thanks a ton Team Liquid (Victor) for helping to set this up, and Robbie for helping me out!
So you're effectively on hiatus for health-issues? Sorry to hear that, and I do hope that you get better soon. You are easily my favorite Liquid player.
On January 22 2013 08:09 Bagration wrote: So you're effectively on hiatus for health-issues? Sorry to hear that, and I do hope that you get better soon. You are easily my favorite Liquid player.
Thanks and the answer to that is yes. Each day my hands have felt better this week though and hopefully it won't be a very long one... I'd like to start doing short times of sc2 anytime now. Had like 2 weeks or more now of no sc2 and its insanely difficult for me.. I miss it.
Being a competitor, I feel health/fitness is just as important to an esports "athlete" as it is to an actual athlete. Sheth being my favorite foreigner, I'm super excited to see what comes of this!!
It's good you're taking care of your health Sheth =D
Tabata intervals (20s sprint, 10s rest x8) which you're doing are really awesome. I've had a lot of success with weight loss doing these myself. Good luck, hope you stick to your diet + fitness regime!
drink lots of water on paleo , and putting on muscle helps with weight loss more than just cardio. if you wanna go even further, cut out meats for more plants rich in protein. in general more variety of vegetables will boost your immune system, but ur welcome to research that.
push urself but know when to take it easy. and def dont make excuses or lie to yourself when things get tough.
Ah, good to hear. I recently started something similar, though a little more hardcore. I've been eating nothing but fruits/vegetables/nuts and making myself do pushups/situps, and I started running today. I've been doing it for two weeks now and I feel better than I have in several years.
Getting your body and diet sorted out really do work wonders, hope we can both keep it up! GLHF
So awesome to hear this, I need the exact same thing in my life tbh, im gunna check out this diet also, Im in the exact same shoes you were, not being able to find a diet to stick to, hopefully this one will work for me. Congrats on the weight loss and good luck in the future sheth! <3
No questions. Just lettin you know that you are awesome =) Keep it up man. Two friends of mine are on Paleo aswell. Not really to lose weight but just to feel healthier overall. For them it works really well.
Do you think you will stay on that specific diet for the rest of your life or do you see it as a temporary step (possibly towards a just generally healthier diet)? If you see it as a temporary diet, have you discussed possible yo-yo effects after stopping said diet?
Good luck Sheth! I can't wait for you to come back but I have the utmost respect for your decision to take a break. After all, you gotta be happy with your body and mind to be successful.
A lot of people have lost weight, you can do it too. Especially since you have the dedication to become one of the best in what you do (play sc2). Use some of that dedication and you will get result ^_^
Sheth, you're going to fucking kill it :D You're going to feel way better after all of this. I'll plug reddit.com/r/fitness if you're looking into more activities to get into as well. Good luck sir!
On January 22 2013 08:20 trucido wrote: So awesome to hear this, I need the exact same thing in my life tbh, im gunna check out this diet also, Im in the exact same shoes you were, not being able to find a diet to stick to, hopefully this one will work for me. Congrats on the weight loss and good luck in the future sheth! <3
One of the things that I changed in my mindset when I went in to this was : I want to make this how I'll eat for the rest of my life. So I never thought ah that ____ over there looks delicious I can't wait till I lose weight and can eat it. Now I just think eh I have better stuff that I can eat. And that has helped a bit too! Hope it works out well for ya!
Sorry to hear that you've had to take a break from SC2 for a little while. I know you can get over this, and I hope you can get back to streaming soon although health definitely should take priority. You've always been my favorite streamer, and I've definitely missed it. I wish you the best of luck! Get healthy so i can see you out at another live event sometime
I have heard many good things from the Paleo diet. But be wary that apparently people hit a wall (the "carb flu") when a couple of weeks in, because of the whole body metabolic change. So you have to try your best to get over that point, no matter how shitty it makes you feel.
On the other hand, I think making small changes to one's habits is a much better path to success than trying to radically change everything, so personally if I would go for paleo, I would start gradually substracting the carbs from my diet, rather than going all out, so that you have more time to get used to it. However if you think you can soldier it up, go for it!
Anyway, good luck with that Sheth, and best wishes!!
This post prompted me to make an account on team liquid, Sheth I love watching your stream and wish you luck in overcoming your future obstacles. I also hope you make a swift return into SC2. You can do it man!
On January 22 2013 08:27 Mannerbear wrote: This post prompted me to make an account on team liquid, Sheth I love watching your stream and wish you luck in overcoming your future obstacles. I also hope you make a swift return into SC2. You can do it man!
Sheth you may not remember calling me on Son of Gnome's phone, but I have been I huge fan of your's since I got into the Starcraft community. I hope that everything goes well and I even recommended one of my really close friends to this diet who has similar health concerns as you do. I know this is asking for a lot, but if my friend was to go through with this diet would you be willing to answer any questions and be sort of his role model please?
As someone who struggled from wrist problems my whole life I can give some insight on something that might help. I broke my wrist playing hockey (i was 16) and it has bothered me on and off for years (I am now 26), it got especially bad around the time SC2 launched, because of the repetition and wrist cranking. I started to do a little grappling (jiu jitsu) and my wrist was really unable to handle the strain. I found a small amount of pushups or balance exercises (crab walk) a day (even 5-10) along with getting a few 2-5 pound waits and just moving it around and doing rotations cleared up the problem. Im not talking curls, im talking 180 rotations like a clock. The issue was fixed by strengthing the muscle endurance, so when you have those long sessions, its not affecting you as badly. That along with a daily heat pad directly after the exercises cleared my 10 year wrists problems in about 4 weeks.
I just thought I would offer what worked for me, in case you would like to utilize it. Best of luck
Hey Sheth, you should keep bloggin your progress, not only so we can motivate you but I think reflecting on the whole process can be a real eye opener at times.
Also you are my favorite SC2 streamer / player still and that there is the truth! So I wish you best off luck with losing weight and remember these things take time! <3<3<3<3
You can do it Sheth! Even if you'll lose the adorable bear physique.
This sounds suspiciously like the Atkins diet craze from some 10 years back: no carbs, lots of protein and fat. People saw huge losses in the first two weeks or so then ran into problems. I really hope it's sustainable. My experience with diets is that if you're losing more than 2lbs/week you'll start suffering quickly.
Please let us know how it turns out! We love our Sheth.
I do wish you the best on your goal to lose weight, but you'll forgive me if I'm a little bit skeptical of your resolve to stick with it. You posted almost the exact same type of blog a little over a year ago in dec 2011. You said you would keep everyone updated of your progress and encouraged people to lose weight with you and post their progress too. You made like one update and then never again looked at that blog.
In that blog you stated you weighed 315 and weren't happy about it. 1 year later, you post the same blog again saying you're 312 and you're not happy about it, so in the span of an entire year you didn't stick to your original plan at all and lost no weight. I'm all for people losing weight, but it always starts with effort., so it was disappointing to see you didn't stick with it last year. Hopefully, it works out for you this time, but if it doesn't, you only have to look into the mirror about why it failed.
Good luck Sheth I know that you can do this! I miss your stream but this is more important for you and I am sure this will help in your sc2 play as well when you do come back.
Hey man, all the best. Keeping up with exercising can be tough, but if you find something you love to do it helps a lot. For me that turned out to be lifting weights, but if you enjoy running or cycling stick with that. If you aren't doing something you enjoy at least a little bit, it becomes really hard to maintain a healthier lifestyle. When I would be bored of lifting weights I would just try to think about how much better it would make me at boxing, for example, and that would get me through on those days. Keep at it and you will notice results very quickly because of your current weight. Don't get discouraged if you plateau, and keeping track of your weight can be really great to motivate you but don't get too obsessed with it, the goal is to be overall healthier right? I have no doubt you can do it man, but you have to do it for yourself (I know that sounds horribly, horribly cheesy, but it's true.) Good luck! Looking forward to hearing about your progress, and I hope your hand feels better soon.
Awesome to hear Sheth! I discovered this diet a year ago and I haven't looked back since. I lost weight so quick it was stunning, all the while still feeling awesome. The biggest thing was that it completely changed my mindset on how I view food and how much of it is processed crap.
I'm sure Robbie suggested this, but some great books to read are The Primal Blueprint by Mark Sisson (also check out his blog) and The Paleo Solution by Robb Wolf. Easy to read and full of great information about the diet.
whatever diet you do, dont lose weight too fast. dont force it, that's not healthy either.
e.g. a friend of mine just cut the lunch (main meal in germany) completely out. he lost weight slowly but steadily over the last two year and now, he will be rejoining our casual football matches each sunday morning.
I want to start off by saying It takes a man do decide to change himself for the better and it takes a real man to go through with it. You have always been one of my favorite streamers. You and Idra are the ying and yang of my Starcraft fix. You are doing great things and congrats on the weight loss. If you are ever in the Michigan area consider me a walking partner.
You ever soak your hands in ice cold water? Particularly the top of your wrist (if that IS your problem - look up the wrist and TFCC)...you might consider asking about an arthroscopy? You never described exactly what pain you are feeling in your hand.
If it is a tingling in your hand that gets worse then it might be a form of RSI or muscle bruise but if it is a sharp cracking/snapping pain in any part of your wrist joint then you might have damaged the ligaments in your wrist. Swelling is also a major issue which is why I mentioned the ice. Wearing a wrist brace might also help if you do not have insurance for an arthroscopy (assuming pain in your hand continues after maintenance).
You can do this man! I'll be really proud to see you looking slim and trim at events in the future.
On January 22 2013 08:30 Pandas of War wrote: Sheth you may not remember calling me on Son of Gnome's phone, but I have been I huge fan of your's since I got into the Starcraft community. I hope that everything goes well and I even recommended one of my really close friends to this diet who has similar health concerns as you do. I know this is asking for a lot, but if my friend was to go through with this diet would you be willing to answer any questions and be sort of his role model please?
Best of Luck,
Pandas of War :D
Well I can answer some questions, but I don't think I'm extremely knowledgeable about the diet. I'm following what Rob tells me to do. So maybe he could talk to Rob about it? I linked his facebook in the blog, or www.facebook.com/paleorobbie : ) And thanks for saying hi : )
On January 22 2013 08:33 Canucklehead wrote: I do wish you the best on your goal to lose weight, but you'll forgive me if I'm a little bit skeptical of your resolve to stick with it. You posted almost the exact same type of blog a little over a year ago in dec 2011. You said you would keep everyone updated of your progress and encouraged people to lose weight with you and post their progress too. You made like one update and then never again looked at that blog.
In that blog you stated you weighed 315 and weren't happy about it. 1 year later, you post the same blog again saying you're 312 and you're not happy about it, so in the span of an entire year you didn't stick to your original plan at all and lost no weight. I'm all for people losing weight, but it always starts with effort., so it was disappointing to see you didn't stick with it last year. Hopefully, it works out for you this time, but if it doesn't, you only have to look into the mirror about why it failed.
Really really good point. I have no solid answer for it, because well I blew your trust last time right? Best I can say is sorry about then, and that I wanted to show results (I'm down 10~) before I even posted this. Was thinking about waiting 2 weeks, but I thought it would be nice to have it posted within 1 week just to have a post at the start. And last time I was posting to help me out and try and do better through community help. This time I'm just updating you and will be working on the diet regardless of people supporting or not. (Even though its awesome to see people wishing me to do well). Anyway like I said I have no solid answer for it... And I completely understand ur skeptisicm. Hopefully within a few weeks or months you can have a little more trust. =]
Finding the resolve to change one's life is always inspirational. Good luck with it.
May I suggest posting a weekly update (and by this I mean for a significant period of time)? If you ever feel your resolve slipping, TL's the ultimate picker-upper/hold-you-to-your-word source (just ask the Ex-BW pro cowoker guy).
I started this last Thursday and was at 312 pounds (141.5kg) and just very inactive and unhealthy feeling. As of this Friday I was at 301.5 pounds (136.7kg)
Long term fat loss is going to come off slowly, ~5kg = ~38'000kcal which would take weeks to burn without eating anything, period, so dont get caught up on spiky weight changes (in both directions, they will happen for many reasons), just focus on long term changes, thats the best advice i can give.
First of all, i wish you luck and i hope you succeed!
Having a diet is good, excercising is better, but honestly.. if you want to lose weight, easiest way is to eat LESS. No offense, but that's all there's to it. Eat less! Sure, it will be hard in the start, especially when your brain is telling you that you're hungry, or saying that you have headaches, or can't sleep or w/e. But c'mon. If your really obese, you can probably last several weeks on water alone. Your body will be forced to consume the fat.
I'm not telling you to starve yourself. Heck, I've never been really fat myself. But anytime i had a slight overweight I simply lost it by eating less. If normally you eat 3 sandwiches as breakfast, eat 2 now instead (even more important for dinner). Sure you'll THINK you'll be hungry, but as long as you don't compensate by snacking and keep strict with 3 meals a day (And less food per time than normal) I assure you that you will lose weight!
Don't know if this way is healthy or not, but pretty much everyone I know simply eat less and quit snacking when they try to lose weight. And every single one that really put their back into it succeeded. Diets my ass, you just need to eat less and have a strong will!
Sounds like you've made some really positive changes and you're are off to a great start losing 11 pounds already. Keep at it buddy and share some of your recipes, the hardest thing is keeping variety in your diet so you don't bored of the same dishes.
On January 22 2013 08:53 AgentW wrote: Finding the resolve to change one's life is always inspirational. Good luck with it.
May I suggest posting a weekly update (and by this I mean for a significant period of time)? If you ever feel your resolve slipping, TL's the ultimate picker-upper/hold-you-to-your-word source (just ask the Ex-BW pro cowoker guy).
I plan on doing this! And yea I'll try and talk with someone, be it Victor or Hot_Bid or Ret or some of my friends from Root or other places if I'm having resolve issues for sure ^^
Why not get a treadmill desk? You can play Starcraft and walk while you're doing it. I BET you that you won't even notice it. Games tend to have that effect on people in that it can suppress pain. (There is actually studies where it physically suppresses the hormones and stuff).
I have not tried this before as I am not in dire need to lose any weight, but I would really really be interested to see how you felt about it.
Looking forward to a super skinny and sexy Sheth. Good luck!
admitting your weight is the first step to losing weight. i was overweight for much of my middle/high school years and decided to make a change for the better (i was 200~lbs and im now at a happy 175). theres a WoW streamer on twitch (Toweliee) who was 400~lbs for the longest time but now he has lost at least 110lbs and going in 7-8 months (he has a trainer and a "strict" diet). while i know thats not what you are gonna do i just wanted to let you know its possible and you gotta stick to it!!
you may not physically "see" results for the first month or so but just keep sticking to it!
proud of you for thinking long term for your health and its going to be tooootalllyyy worth it! just keep FIGHTING and when you get that first compliment on how you look its going to be addicting. theres gonna be days where you just want to give up... DONT DO IT!!! (if you get to that point just think YOLO :D )
good luck & am looking forward to the before & after pictures!!!
I started this last Thursday and was at 312 pounds (141.5kg) and just very inactive and unhealthy feeling. As of this Friday I was at 301.5 pounds (136.7kg)
Long term fat loss is going to come off slowly, ~5kg = ~38'000kcal which would take weeks to burn without eating anything, period, so dont get caught up on spiky weight changes (in both directions, they will happen for many reasons), just focus on long term changes, thats the best advice i can give.
GL
Yep thanks. I realize it may go up from where it is, it may go down or not change at all next week. The main thing is that what I'm eating is healthy and will result in long term benefits. Kind of like the stock market, it may go up or down on certain days, and you shouldn't be worried about that, just worry about long term changes : )
On January 22 2013 08:57 Brutaxilos wrote: Hey Sheth!
Why not get a treadmill desk? You can play Starcraft and walk while you're doing it. I BET you that you won't even notice it. Games tend to have that effect on people in that it can suppress pain. (There is actually studies where it physically suppresses the hormones and stuff).
I have not tried this before as I am not in dire need to lose any weight, but I would really really be interested to see how you felt about it.
Looking forward to a super skinny and sexy Sheth. Good luck!
Would be reallllyyyy tough to accurately move the mouse! XD But interesting idea ! I do sometimes read a book on a treadmill : P
On January 22 2013 08:33 Canucklehead wrote: I do wish you the best on your goal to lose weight, but you'll forgive me if I'm a little bit skeptical of your resolve to stick with it. You posted almost the exact same type of blog a little over a year ago in dec 2011. You said you would keep everyone updated of your progress and encouraged people to lose weight with you and post their progress too. You made like one update and then never again looked at that blog.
In that blog you stated you weighed 315 and weren't happy about it. 1 year later, you post the same blog again saying you're 312 and you're not happy about it, so in the span of an entire year you didn't stick to your original plan at all and lost no weight. I'm all for people losing weight, but it always starts with effort., so it was disappointing to see you didn't stick with it last year. Hopefully, it works out for you this time, but if it doesn't, you only have to look into the mirror about why it failed.
Really really good point. I have no solid answer for it, because well I blew your trust last time right? Best I can say is sorry about then, and that I wanted to show results (I'm down 10~) before I even posted this. Was thinking about waiting 2 weeks, but I thought it would be nice to have it posted within 1 week just to have a post at the start. And last time I was posting to help me out and try and do better through community help. This time I'm just updating you and will be working on the diet regardless of people supporting or not. (Even though its awesome to see people wishing me to do well). Anyway like I said I have no solid answer for it... And I completely understand ur skeptisicm. Hopefully within a few weeks or months you can have a little more trust. =]
Well, I'm glad you responded. Sorry, if I sounded harsh, but I've seen too many overweight people who resolve to lose weight then come up with excuses after excuses about why they couldn't work out or couldn't diet.
Rather than accept excuses from people I think more people need a reality check to push them to their goal, rather than be yes men and accept their excuses. You don't even need to worry about my trust or anyone's trust for that matter because at the end of the day it makes no difference to me if you lose weight or not. You need to do it for yourself and for your health's sake. That is really the only message I wanted to convey by reminding you of your past failure with this. Good luck to you again on your second attempt.
On January 22 2013 08:33 Canucklehead wrote: I do wish you the best on your goal to lose weight, but you'll forgive me if I'm a little bit skeptical of your resolve to stick with it. You posted almost the exact same type of blog a little over a year ago in dec 2011. You said you would keep everyone updated of your progress and encouraged people to lose weight with you and post their progress too. You made like one update and then never again looked at that blog.
In that blog you stated you weighed 315 and weren't happy about it. 1 year later, you post the same blog again saying you're 312 and you're not happy about it, so in the span of an entire year you didn't stick to your original plan at all and lost no weight. I'm all for people losing weight, but it always starts with effort., so it was disappointing to see you didn't stick with it last year. Hopefully, it works out for you this time, but if it doesn't, you only have to look into the mirror about why it failed.
Really really good point. I have no solid answer for it, because well I blew your trust last time right? Best I can say is sorry about then, and that I wanted to show results (I'm down 10~) before I even posted this. Was thinking about waiting 2 weeks, but I thought it would be nice to have it posted within 1 week just to have a post at the start. And last time I was posting to help me out and try and do better through community help. This time I'm just updating you and will be working on the diet regardless of people supporting or not. (Even though its awesome to see people wishing me to do well). Anyway like I said I have no solid answer for it... And I completely understand ur skeptisicm. Hopefully within a few weeks or months you can have a little more trust. =]
Well, I'm glad you responded. Sorry, if I sounded harsh, but I've seen too many overweight people who resolve to lose weight then come up with excuses and excuses about why they couldn't work out or couldn't diet.
Rather then accept excuses from people I think more people need a reality check to push them to their goal, rather than be yes men and accept their excuses. You don't even need to worry about my trust or anyone's trust for that matter because at the end of the day it makes no difference to me if you lose weight or not. You need to do it for yourself and for your health's sake. That is really the only message I wanted to convey by reminding you of your past failure with this. Good luck to you again on your second attempt.
Thanks. And it didn't sound harsh at all. It was a critisicm I've thought up many times. It was even really embarassing for me to write this up knowing I've tried once before and failed. But yea I've gotten to the point where I'm doing it because I need to do it for myself. Just wanted to respond to ya because it was a really valid point =)
On January 22 2013 08:57 Brutaxilos wrote: Hey Sheth!
Why not get a treadmill desk? You can play Starcraft and walk while you're doing it. I BET you that you won't even notice it. Games tend to have that effect on people in that it can suppress pain. (There is actually studies where it physically suppresses the hormones and stuff).
I have not tried this before as I am not in dire need to lose any weight, but I would really really be interested to see how you felt about it.
Looking forward to a super skinny and sexy Sheth. Good luck!
Would be reallllyyyy tough to accurately move the mouse! XD But interesting idea ! I do sometimes read a book on a treadmill : P
Well, take it slow man. You don't have to go fast at all. If you just spend maybe 3 hours walking everyday for a year, you're almost guaranteed to lose weight. If you could spend all of your Starcraft practice time (probably around 8 hours?) also walking, you'd shed off weight no problem!
Perhaps you can just start by standing rather than walking. Try that for a few weeks and see how that goes!
Best way to keep this up is to track your progress, and I don't mean weight only. Time to time, try to track the distance or speed when you walk at a fixed time. It's another way to measure improvement knowing not only are you losing weight, but you're also moving faster and farther. It'll at least make walking for a hour more interesting.
I've also said this before to many people several times. Once you've gotten the ball rolling in getting your body to move and eat the right foods, the first challenge you'll face will not be physical, but mental, either it be boredom, excuses, or lack of motivation.
I've noticed often that a good part of a gamer that plays into mid 20s and beyond... that physical shape is just as important as mental shape when it comes to gaming. I'm sure that statement can be swayed in either direction for whatever reason, but I have to say that since I've actually seen what you look like, I was amazed that you were able to keep cool, nice, and strong in SC due to having to overcome that issue.
I would think "how the heck does he keep on playing long hours after eating all the shit he must eat," he's 23 and I'm amazed he still plays. You'd be cool to people, even knowing that the internet saw you and you've probably taken a ridiculous amount of shit from it about your size.
So, here's the cool part. If physical health is such an important part of mental strength and stamina, then how fucking amazing are you going to be at basically everything you do after you get in good shape? You're already insanely good... hah... fun thought hmm?
As with any diet, people hit walls. Just come back here and look at all the support you're getting when you do. Good luck dude!
Good luck Sheth, this is a great thing to do and I know it can be hard, but don't let yourself get away with skipping parts of this on any day. You can do it!
I had no idea you were that tall...converted to metric system is it around 186 or smtgh? And good luck with your plans ofc :D I'm just more astonished by your height you seemed kinda tall, but not that tall :D
Good to hear Sheth! I"ve been on keto for awhile which is pretty similar to Paleo and it's been great! I'm currently ~205 or so and down about 15 pounds. I'm not sure if you've felt lots of carb/sugar cravings but that was the hardest part for me. Just keep going and you'll see the weight drop off really quick
And it's possible with your past diet/eating habits (processed foods, etc...) causes full body inflammation, so whatever you have going on, whether it be knee pain, wrist/hand pain, it hurts worse and it takes longer to heal, so I'm glad you switched to better foods.
I don't know if you have a gym membership but there are elliptical machines which is a cross between stationary bike/treadmill, only it puts less stress on your knees than a treadmill would. Also, aquatic workouts (whether walking a few laps or swimming) are great because they reduce the stress on your joints.
Also, we met at MLG Dallas (I mentioned LRM)Game), I'm a certified athletic trainer, didn't know you were having wrist problems. Maybe I could have helped :3 haha.
I really hope you the best of luck Sheth. I've felt so much better ever since I've started exercising more and eating healthier, and it's just such a great change to make in your life.
Really hope you all the best of luck. Keep at it, you'll get your goal eventually =)
Just drink lots and lots of water! A lot of weight lost can be attributed to being dehydrated (can lose a few lbs of water per day), so just maintain about ~3 liters* of water per day. Try adding slices of lemon to your water too.
*this is a super rough estimate of how much water a "typical" male is advised to drink; so of course body stats, amount of exercise, diet, etc. aren't necessarily factored into that number.
One advice; To loose weigh you need to change your way of thinking about food. You need to reprogram your brain a bit. Read about NLP that could help you to find right mind set. It helped me a lot. I lost about 20kg, stop smoking and I changed totally my life. I'm sure you can do it mate, you're stronger than you think you are.
Great job man, I know someone just like you in real life, watching people like you struggle so hard at losing weight and be successful makes me feel so pathetic when I think I'm having a hard time. I don't post much cause I honestly don't think my opinion is needed, but when I do I post.
The important thing is that changes to your lifestyle have to be permanent. Getting healthy is not some period when you're getting better and then you're good and get back to your normal habits. You have to accept the fact that you have to change your life forever. Exercise every day, exercise as in get exhausted as hell. Take up some sport - and not just by yourself, put yourself in a spot where you will compete with other people, there is nothing more motivating than training in a group. Take up swimming, get into some sort of contact sport (boxing or BJJ, no bullshit like karate - only the ones where you actually spar with other people are good) or simply sign up for powerlifting. If you hate it, try another thing, but never ever give up on sports. The same applies to diet - you will have to learn to control your urges and never ever return to your old habits of eating junk snacks etc. Scheduled meals and no seconds.
In theory losing weight is the easiest thing in the world. What's hard is actually convincing yourself to stick with it, because our brains hate change and react to new habits badly.
I'd wish you good luck, but it's not really up to luck, it's just hard work. You can do it!
Managing your weight is always a tough challenge. Glad to see you exploring other angles.
Paleo is a good diet, if expensive. If worst comes to worst, and you can't maintain the cost, remember to eat the same type of food, even if you have to drop the organic label... meat and veggies, a bit of fruit, very low starch. If the running/walking becomes a problem, you can look into barbell training... not the crazy huge reps on machines type program, but perhaps a program like Starting Strength that focuses on primary motions.
In the end, as long as you're at a calorie deficit for the day, it doesn't matter how you got there. Don't overdo it; it's going to take time. Also, your body doesn't lose weight linearly... some weeks, you'll lose nothing, then 2 days later you'll drop 6 lbs overnight. Patience and persistence.
Take care of yourself man. Looking forward to seeing you back on the scene in a few months. :-)
ps: Always willing answer questions, if you want to chat about programs. I actually stuck to the diet you started last year, and I've learned a bit since then. :-p
Good Luck Sheth! I've recently really started watching what I eat and counting calories, and I'm hoping that will help me lose some weight, but it's always good to see what other people are doing. I hope it works out for you!
I can say with confidence that you got some real sound advice from this Robbie guy. The exercise advice is fine (though I'd love if you'd put in some weightlifting too), and Paleo is a theme that often comes up in the TLHF forum, and a lot of people seem to do very well on it. Though I'm very sceptical that most people can keel up with the strict version all year strong: strict means that everything is organic, that is rather hard to get done all the time, and it is not cheap either. But basically if you need to cheat, cheat with non-organic meat rather than with candy bars and don't feel bad about it. But I guess this is rather obvious. The headaches sound just like a mild sugar addiction, just fight it with fruits if you must (as you do now) and you'll be fine. Regarding dieting in general: My breakthrough was when I seriously started counting calories and therefore basically had ti weigh everything I eat. After 1 1/2 years it is now like second nature to me. Everyone I tell about this looks puzzled and thinks that this is batshit crazy. But for me control is everything, and counting calories means having control (and it means I can eat whatever I want, I just have to control for portion size) and I don't even have to call it dieting, because nothing is off limits really. So i would always and everytime advice to do the same if they want to lose serious weight. And if that is too hard or you have another/better approach, I would still highly recommend to get at least somewhat familiar with all the nutritional labels/values of the foods you are constantly eating. There will be some surprises for sure, and it can only help to know more come nutrition.
As for your blog post: That is just me, but I am very sceptical of the approach to tell the world about your project. I somewhat believe that if you're at the point that you really really want it that bad and more than anything else, you won't have the need to tell everyone about it, but you'll just be doing it and people will see the change. I lost the first 20kg without telling anyone about it. You have to so ridiculously want the change that any other thought doesn't matter. Unfortunately, in my experience there is not much anyone but yourself to get to that point, at least nothing anyone ever said could've helped me to get there. I just feel if someone feels the need to announce it to the world, he is not truly ready: like programers (Strelok, Beastyqt) making threads that they're going to stream everyday to be held accountable, or Ret's latest blog (can't really remember, was mostly about smoking and training more though). But only Sith talk in absolutes, so hopefully none of this applies to you. I just doubt it a little.
No shit i just thought "well i have not catched anything trom sheth lately" and boom there is a blog keep it up and get better soon shawn! Its hard sometimes but its worth it!!
On January 22 2013 09:37 Malinor wrote: I can say with confidence that you got some real sound advice from this Robbie guy. The exercise advice is fine (though I'd love if you'd put in some weightlifting too), and Paleo is a theme that often comes up in the TLHF forum, and a lot of people seem to do very well on it. Though I'm very sceptical that most people can keel up with the strict version all year strong: strict means that everything is organic, that is rather hard to get done all the time, and it is not cheap either. But basically if you need to cheat, cheat with non-organic meat rather than with candy bars and don't feel bad about it. But I guess this is rather obvious. The headaches sound just like a mild sugar addiction, just fight it with fruits if you must (as you do now) and you'll be fine. Regarding dieting in general: My breakthrough was when I seriously started counting calories and therefore basically had ti weigh everything I eat. After 1 1/2 years it is now like second nature to me. Everyone I tell about this looks puzzled and thinks that this is batshit crazy. But for me control is everything, and counting calories means having control (and it means I can eat whatever I want, I just have to control for portion size) and I don't even have to call it dieting, because nothing is off limits really. So i would always and everytime advice to do the same if they want to lose serious weight. And if that is too hard or you have another/better approach, I would still highly recommend to get at least somewhat familiar with all the nutritional labels/values of the foods you are constantly eating. There will be some surprises for sure, and it can only help to know more come nutrition.
As for your blog post: That is just me, but I am very sceptical of the approach to tell the world about your project. I somewhat believe that if you're at the point that you really really want it that bad and more than anything else, you won't have the need to tell everyone about it, but you'll just be doing it. You have to so ridicolously want the change that any other thought in your head is secondary to it. Unfortunately, in my experience, there is not much anyone but yourself can really helpt you with that. I just feel if someone feels the need to announce it to the world, he is not truly ready: like programers (Strelok, Beastyqt) making threas that they're going to stream everyday to be held accountable, or Rets latest blog (can't really remember, was mostly about smoking and training more though). But only Sith talk in absolutes, so hopefully none of this applies to you. I just doubt it a little.
Interesting way to do it with control and counting calories. I've counted calories before, but I never stuck with it or enjoyed it. As for typing here to "announce" it to the world I'm really just doing it as an update on what I'm doing sense I'm not playing sc2. It's not something I'm announcing to force myself to do it. Hehe anyway really enjoyed reading your posts and thanks! =)
start juicing, it will quickly increase your intake of fruits and vegetables. Juicing allows your body to quickly absorb all the nutrients. You can easily eat 3x - 5x more fruits and vegetables without feeling like you are over stuffing yourself. And cut down on meat, even organic, free range meat. Our ancestors started out as gatherers, not hunters.
This story made me kind of emotional. Life is harder for some people than others, and this is a challenge of epic proportions. If changing our bodies was easy, we would all be 200 lbs of lean muscle mass and get to eat steak and potatoes every night.
I know you can do it Sheth, we will be here with you to encourage you and sweat along with you. You have inspired me and I know other gamers are doing pushups right now in their bedroom because they read your post, lol
Bananas are great satisfying foods to keep around. Sweet potato is awesome too, just throw in oven for an hour at 400 degrees. I think it's less a matter of will power than it is with planning... keep only healthy foods around and that's what you will eat. Anyway good luck.
I don't know if you're anything like me, but as a big guy myself (similar in size, a little smaller in general) one of the hardest things is to admit to others that I'm working towards losing weight. A lot of it is the failures don't just make people distrust my resolve, but they make me feel like so much less of a person. I know I'm not supposed to be this size, but it doesn't make it any easier for me to lose the weight. It's hard, it's really hard, and it's not just hard because of the desire to eat what I want to eat, but because of the psychological effect it has on me.
I don't expect or want sympathy personally, and if I had to guess I'd wager that you probably feel similarly to me in that you probably feel like you let people down when you're unable to achieve the weight loss goal. That shit hurts, and hurts more than a lot of other things in my life.
I guess this is really just to say that if you're anything at all like me, I hope that you're able to do it, and will be rooting for you. Don't believe that if you don't you're letting anyone down, or that we think any less of you (what little that might mean one way or another). Taking the sincere steps towards bettering yourself are barely less monumental than achieving the final goal directly. Failure is always an option, and as long as you can say afterwards that you gave it a hell of a shot, there's nothing to not be proud of. This has already been a far better seeming try than your last one was, so it's already a great success.
I am not over weight but I do have bad eating habits, Man it seems like all the sc2 players I like are having major wrist issues(Even I have bad writs problems).Teaja, Tlo, Sheth, MVP, and Grubby recently had a bad tendinitis issue as well the list goes on and on, the community really needs to start showing the importance of proper exercise, posture, and making time for breaks. Wish you the best of luck Sheth, the first step in getting healthy is wanting to be healthy.
I just want to add another post of support and to say that this is personally inspiring. Although I haven't been overweight, I am gaining weight and am not happy about it, but this blog post really makes me want to me to stick to my diet that I haven't been following for a while.
Shawn, first of all i am glad to read this update on what you are doing at the moment! Just last week i was wondering where you are and what you are doing - the last time i read something about you i think was the reddit that you were going to help your dad because he has some health/injury issues ( I hope your dad is healthy again!?). reading this post i really think you are in the right mindset to go through this and i believe in you and that you will be successful with your diet. if you ever feel that you are going to need a reminder maybe try what catz did it with his new ID (nOcancer) when he quit smoking Liquid`nOheartattack or Liquid`nOstroke sounds silly but i really think this can be a helper if you ever recognize you might need one!
I am looking forward to your updates and wish you the strength to stick to your goals. I cant wait to see you back streaming as soon as you feel its the right time and i am sure a healthier lifestyle will not only make you feel better, but also show in your play as well!
no matter what will happen here is always an awesome community supporting you! =]
Sheth, I was once 315 lbs as well, and being 6'2 myself, I can relate a great deal to the difficulty of losing weight as naturally "big" guy. I wish you nothing but success in your endeavor to better yourself, though as Malinor said, some more weight lifting wouldn't hurt. In any case, what you say about eating candy for headaches gives me pause. I realize that you've been to the doctor and have likely checked this out already, but have you monitored your blood sugar with any regularity? Paradoxical blood sugar pathologies like headache brought on by a lack of dietary sugar can be a precursor for early type 2 diabetes; though it seems like a hypoglycemic reaction, general insulin wonkiness is always a cause for concern, and it can definitely play a role in headaches. I suffered migraines throughout high school while I weighed over 300 lbs, and they've all but gone away since I've lost the weight.
Good luck, the ends justify the means in this case, at least they did for me
Gl Sheth, can't wait to see you one day win an MLG AND the ceremonial pre-MLG relay race one day.
Also, to anyone who wants a tip on beating your cravings, here's what I did to rid myself of a candy/junk food addiction. If your brain/stomach starts to tell you that you want that delicious, sugar-diluted or greasy shit in your body, then just force yourself to chug two gaint glasses of water (we're talking 40+ fl oz). The first glass will be easy to get through, but you'll realize that your stomach is full as shit and you will have to push through the end of the 2nd glass usually. It helped me in two ways because I use to never drink enough water and junk food isn't worth eating or paying for. Also chugging the water takes less than a minute so it's a really quick fix. And for late night crazings, which for me were the worst because I wouldn't eat all day and just gorge at nigh, just have frozen brussel sprouts on hand, microwave for like 3 minutes and add a lil butter and salt. If you start forcing yourself to have brussel sprouts instead of w/e it is you eat in the middle of the night, then your cravings will soon vanish.
- food journal (may not be as important since you can eat as much as you want on that diet, but i find that when i have to write down my slip ups then i am less likely to do them)
- weigh yourself everyday (good for monitoring, and letting you know which foods are causing you problems)
- diet/exercise partners (best motivators if you have good ones, and they will shame you into staying on the path)
wish the best to you. want to see you back in the game with your keyboard on your new slim lap. =)
Good luck Sheth! Seems like more and more people around me are making changes or moving to a healthier lifestyle. Great to see.
In mid November or so I actually dropped almost ALL of my sc2 playing in efforts to start getting back into stronger running shape. Simply no time to balance sc2 with work and where I wanted to go with my health goals, so I had to cut it...hasn't been easy but it's definitely been worth it, I feel so much healthier and stronger it's amazing.
Having recently gone from 120kg's (~240pounds) down to 96kg's (~190 pounds), i can safely say that it's the best thing you can do. I started off by cutting out all soft drink, alcohol etc and moving into small amounts of sugar free variants after a short while.
I use smartphone apps like Myfitnesspal to monitor my calorie intake and running/walking apps like Zombies, Run, which really keeps it fresh and interesting, i would recommend this for your walks!
Having been on my diet for 6 months now, i know how unbelievably easy it is to blow out your daily intake, and my fitnesspal certainly helps with that!
Best of luck with it mate and keep us updated on your transformation!
good luck sheth ! I don't know about the paelo diet though.... I would recommend going vegan, meat is really bad for you. I would watch, Forks over Knives which explains why this is the case. But i digress, best of luck and I hope this diet works well for you.
Sheth! I'm glad you are sharing this with us. one thing i'd like to tell you though is that a Diet won't do the trick. FATLOST can only be acheived through exercise, and a paleo diet seems ridiculus to me because cavemen were doing at least 100times more exercise we do..... of course eating healty, bio, and whole nutrient will help. also exercising gives you strengh in wrist and back for posture. every effect of physical training, whether its weight lifting, sports, cardio will help you way more than just eating well. i wish you the best, but it won't be easy. I have a friend who was 300 pounds and 6feet tall hes 190 now and he changed his diet but he trained like hell.
things to improve your trainings/weightlost : Drink ALOT of water Sleep well (at least 8hours a day) and at biological hours (dont go to sleep at 3am, sleep is less effective) exercise EVERYday (if salary remains steady like you say, you have plenty of time to do so) only running wont do it. you actually need to solicitate muscle much more to generate body changes (fat into muscle) you need to do at least endurance training with weights (id suggest your bodyweight - pushup chinup pullups dips - are a great efficient way to do it without paying gym)
as for your diet it could be simplier: eat alot of vedgetables/fruits, whole grains (brown rice/wheat/bread), lean meat(turkey and fish). cook with oils (olive, peanut, canola, coco will do it) not butter. Skip salami/ham avoid redmeat if possible (1 time per week is recommended). If you eat sugars better go with brown sugar or maple sugar that are healthier than rafined white sugar. take tea instead of coffee. dont drink alchool/smoke cigarette. and you are good to go if you train aswell.
Good luck for sure. Awesome to hear that your really getting into it. Its hard to have a "diet" if you can't stand the food. I really feel like that is never the way for it to work. You need to actually enjoy the food before you start it or at least be open to a few new things but not eat disgusting food.
Hey, Sheth! I know this is long, but PLEASE, for your own health's sake, I hope you read this one; it could be important. It's not trashing paleo; it's more about the symptoms you felt before starting it and the problems they could indicate that could still be ongoing.
First off, big congrats on your positive life changes and your positive reaction to them thus far. That's a really huge, important part of making these kinds of plans succeed, so I hope that you can maintain your optimism and enjoyment.
BUT, more importantly, *please* consider having your blood glucose levels measured by a trained physician ASAP. I, too, am overweight (270lbs at 5'11), and I have been for half my life (I'm 26 now). I used to get similar symptoms in the evenings: bad headaches, restlessness, plus stuff like numbness or tingling and shortness of breath. I chalked it up to being unhealthy, and, like you, learned that eating a candy bar or similar would make it stop.
When I talked to my doctor about it, though, they had me tested for diabetes. I don't have it, but I do have a condition colloquially known as pre-diabetes. The long and short of it is that my body has developed resistance to its own insulin because I have eaten carby, sugary foods for so long that my glands had to produce insulin constantly to regulate all the sugar in my bloodstream.
This causes my cells to start to ignore insulin's commands to process the sugars, resulting in the sugar staying in the blood for too long and building up, leading to symptoms of *hyper*glycemia. Eventually, my body realizes what's going on and floods my system with a double-dose of insulin, which makes my previously apathetic cells kick into gear and say "Oh, shit, yeah, we should really break down all of this sugar out there, huh?"
So then they break it all down at once, crashing my blood sugar and leading to symptoms of *hypo*glycemia, which is what I was feeling at night. I'd have to constantly drip-feed myself carbs and sugar to keep things mostly level, and I'd been self-medicating without realizing it for months or years. But unfortunately, doing so was only increasing my body's resistance to insulin. In many cases, this develops into full-blown diabetes when the pancreas just gives up the fight and stops making it altogether.
If you caught yourself in time, this switch to a low-carb (and especially low processed-carb/sugar) diet could be just what your body needs to get back in shape with regards to blood sugar and insulin, but if not, you could have already developed diabetes, and not treating that properly can lead to all sorts of really awful problems down the line for you (anything from crippled eyesight to organ failure and gout).
You've got a salary and friends/family to support you. Please take the hour and copay it'll cost to go to a doctor and let him or her know you're concerned about your night-time headaches/restlessness and the "need" to regulate it with sugar (because, in the end, healthy as they may be, the berries you're eating now are still just sugar to feed the bad symptoms into quieting down). It might be nothing at all, but for us big guys, you really can't be too careful!!
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And just in case you're concerned, I've cut back on refined carbs (it's all whole grains and high-fiber items like oats, beans, and quinoa now) and sugar (no more late-night candy bars) and I'm working out 30/min/day, 3-4 days/week now. I haven't lost much, but for the first time in a long time, I'm keeping my body happy and it's stopped trying to kill me right away, so that's good
I'm not surprised he put you on the paleo, you are a big dude in height and width (not like belly size) so the paleo diet fits you. It helps build muscle and drop fat while allowing people to SLOWLY drop weight effectively. The issue for most people is the loss of carbs, though you seem to be fine on it. I'm no expert, but you should call up the mayo clinic, they are pretty much world renown for their occupational work. EDIT: the guy above me is right, please get that checked my father had the same issues with headaches, and it turned out that he had let his blood pressure and other blood based issues scale too far over his life. You are young, get a thorough physical, this comes from seeing my family members have the same issues snowball too long.
Created a TL account specifically to reply to this -
My wife is trying to use this Paleo diet to feel more healthy and lose some weight while still nourishing her latest pregnancy, my brother used a combination of massive fruit and vegetable consumption and Brazilian Jiu-Jutsu to drop from over 300 to 240ish. I am overweight (6'0 295, working on it) but still feel generally great because I am a food snob and culinary perfectionist. I eat quality food, but have trouble managing amounts.
The exercise is a big issue, as I was used to both eating and expending tons of energy in sports, then after college retreating to a more sedentary lifestyle while keeping the same caloric intake. Then whenever I would start exercising again, I would get more hungry than ever. Your balanced approach seems perfect.
I don't personally know you, but if there is anything that I would add to your plan - learn how to cook, especially food from other cultures. My family has a rule - we never go out to eat unless they can cook it better than me. Cultures that haven't been as assimilated into typical Western culture are more likely to have a comprehensively nutritious diet from their local habitats.
To whit - my cousin brought back a curry recipe from Nepal that blew my mind - in 22 years I hadn't tasted anything like it. Coriander, Cumin, Turmeric, lots of spices that are full of flavor and goodness.
Hell yeah that is great news ! Go Sheth ! Looking forward to your other blog and seeing you in better shape than ever in 2013, inside and outside of the game
Do it for yourself and your future. We love you Sheth. <3 You're a great dude and we want you around, more than we want more of you around (Sorry if that was kinda rude, I figured it funny at this time, PM me if I was wrong. Edit works too, but I'd like to apologize as well.)
In spite of what I've seen people saying, diet is about 70% of weight control, the other 30% is exercise. Can't shovel garbage into a hole and expect that spraying Fabreeze will solve the smell.
Additionally, this diet seems almost like a Ketogenic diet, but allowing sugar/starches. I know for many of my friends "Keto" works when done properly, but the first few days are pretty tough, afterwards you have excessive amounts of energy and you feel a lot better. What "keto" does if anyone is not aware is it removes starches/sugars from your diet entirely, and forces the body to burn fat for energy as opposed to sugars and carbohydrates. I am very, very skinny, can not gain weight for the life of me and have done this diet many times to support others, great thing about it is the same as this current one you're (Sheth is) on is that you can eat as often as you like since it's all protein and vitamins.
I don't really think it matters what kind of diet you are on as long as it makes you think about how much and what you eat every day. I'm just really selfish and want to see your awesome play again soon!
No offense but at that weight you are beyond 'diets' or for that matter any temporary solutions (believe me I know) At that level of obesity only thing that will work is a complete lifestyle change. Sure - there are plenty of ways to lose weight initially (a lot of it in-fact) but it will never last. Usually you will rebound to weight even more that you started-out with damaging your health in the process. Everything is doable with strong-will and dedication but gastric surgery aside that's the only way to bring about long-term weight loss.
Know you have it in you Sheth! Maybe you can force Ret to come with you if he's still working on getting healthy too I knew a State champion Cross Country runner in high school who had a broken foot his senior year, and he still ended up getting 4th at states because he did workouts in water (I guess running in water only works muscles and the heart, and not joints/bones). Maybe try that if you get anxious and wanna over achieve?
Just a small thought - Sprinting isn't the best idea - especially if you're worried about injuries from the past and future. Finding an alternative exercise that is less likely to injure you (and hurt your resolve for your lifestyle change!!) could be something to think about. Something in the pool (doesn't necessarily have to be swimming if you don't like it) if you have access to one is one option!
Sheth you rock and I really hope that you can get healthy (both in your wrist and everything else) so we can get to watching you kick ass at starcraft for a long long time :D
check out the documentary "Hungry for Change" Will help you prosper even more. It really talks a lot about the idea of juicing, which in combination with your already doing will dramatically increase your energy levels and weight loss.
The paleo diet is really sound advice. Really glad to see you working on a good plan like this.
I guess I tend to be pretty picky when I eat (both in terms of 'is it healthy' and 'is it delicious', has to be both! no crap!) a piece of advice I like to give people is "when in doubt, if your grandparents or great grandparents wouldn't recognize it/understand the ingredients in it, you probably don't want to be eating much of it."
Best of luck, enjoying what you eat is really important, and glad that you seem to be
You'r doing the whole walking part alittle wrong, or well its better walking then not walk at all.
You burn fat when your hearth is beating faster, so doing brisk walking for about 20-30 minutes will give you more effect but only if ur hearth beats fast!
Theres no sience losing weight just eat green foods and walk some each day :D!
It's nice to see that you're taking an initiative, and from what I've heard the kind of diet you mention is solid. Eating less fatty meats and fresh produce (while minimizing processed grains/sugars) is a very healthy way to live.
One thing to keep in mind though, is don't go nuts over the organics. I've worked at health food stores and supermarkets for several years and a lot of what you see and hear about "the benefits of organics" is marketing BS. There may be some exceptions here and there (organic meat is usually always better IMO), but nowadays almost anything that CAN be grown organically is sold at a premium just because buyers don't completely understand the difference.
you should get a powerball and use it 20 minutes per day. it's used as a recreational tool for people after they injured arms and/or fingers, it increases the blood circulation in the fingers, regular use basically prevents all symptoms of RSI and carpal tunnel etc (it doesn't cure the existing injury though so if you have something serious u need to get that cured 1st). I don't even know why no programer is using these things... and it's fun too.
I am happy for you Sheth that you started paleo diet! After reading through the first paragraph, I thought to myself "paleodiet would really help him" and am happy to see that is what you chose I was on this diet for 6 months, and I have never felt so good in my entire life. Helped me with my weight and joint pain problems, I am sure it can help you too!
Nazgul's friend knows what he's doing, both for the diet and the exercises.
Many of the popular diets are incredibly unhealthy and cause even more weight problems in the long term. But that's not the case here. Also, walking + doing sprints is much better than jogging, both for losing weight/becoming and not destroying your joints.
It will turn hard at one point but if you falter for a while, just remember that the best thing you can is get back to the proper diet/exercise routine as soon as psosible.
This sounds great!! Taking care of your body is sooo important - NOT only for others sake, but really for your own! Eating what you want CAN happen, you just need to do it with care. I'm really happy, that this is working out for you, and I so do hope that this'll continue to work out.
keep up the good work shawn, need to do a diet myself, 100kg atm ( ate A LOT during my last stay in the US ) i find it extremely hard to find time to work out, i always watch SPL, GSL, and the rest of the time i'm practicing or watching streams or casting but i really feel like i need to if i want to lose weight, a diet wont be enough and i know so little about nutrition ~ very inspirational blog none the less i will try to work some myself !
Funny coincidence, I just found out about Paleo 2 weeks ago. I am around 10kg underweight, (170cm height, only 60kg weight) and that´s all musclemass I should have by now (19 years old!!!). So I basicly combined this Paleo Diet with a tough Crossfit-Training schedule (focused on strength, because my doctor said so, I´m apparently too elastic and that causes me shoulder and hand problems). At first it was very hard not to eat pasta anymore (I´m italian and I kinda ate it everyday lolz), but I also always loved meat. I hope to gain those ten kilos as fast as you lose your overweight, let´s meet in the middle when we´re both ripped! :D
P.S.: I´m sorry but I don´t know that american system, In Europe we use the metric-system....
I don't know much about diets, because i never needed one, but if you weight around 140kg, then running and sprinting is very bad for your articulations. What you should do is swimming and walking. Running will cause you pain and it will damage your articulations permenantly. Watch out for that please!
I don´t like the whole "diet" thinking... This always makes me think people just do it for a short time to loose weight, then get back to old Habits. My Mother in law is a nutritional adviser. Having studied the thing for 3,5 years at a german university and doing her job for more than 10 years professionally. She always says: there is no diet, there is just a relearned food consumption. Its also not about fast weight loss, but about archiving your goals over a longer period time, but then beeing able to hold your weight from thereon without changing anything.
So i like to share some general advice (without to criticize what you do now in specific):
- get professional help in the beginning to solve the headache and hand problems from a nutritional adviser (not one who has done a 1 year something, but some real professional university stuff...)
- you have to get an expert for yourself about food (don´t rely on anyone... make ureself an expert)
- dont get obsessed with those weight numbers, get obsessed with knowledge about food
- you need to now what is good food, what you should avoid
- what to eat to fight hunger feeling, what to do with the headache problem. (there are solutions to those problems, which are easy to follow, if the reason for your problems is known to you.
- doing sports always helps, got nothing to say about this
I wish you the stengh to follow through and not make it a short term project! Regards
Remember to keep the feeling/sensation/emotion/whatever you felt in vivid memory prior to this change, and recall them whenever the going gets hard. Sort of like conditioning yourself against something. I just wanted to share this tip because it worked for me. Keep it up!
However here is a piece of advice that many don't think about: Walk everywhere you can and if you have a choice of standing up or sitting down (on a bus for example) stand up!
You will increase your daily calories burnt by just doing "natural" exercice, that is walk/stand.
I work as a software developer and sit alot every day. I try do stand up and do programming (I have a desk that can be raised). I try to walk everywhere possible. I stand up on busses and metros.
Those small things really will help more than you think. Sometimes we think too much "I need to exercise by doing some specific stuff" when lot of the problems today is that we don't have "natural movement" in everyday life. We sit, we take the car, sit on the bus etc.
Best wishes to you Sheth, you got my support and ofc everyone else, was a very well written blog but were allways around if you need any random conversations.
Super proud of you, Sheth. I know how hard it can be to diet and exercise, especially since being overweight makes both of those things SO much harder. I'm on a diet similiar to yours and it's been working out really well for me too!
You're a baller, keep on doing what you're doing <3
Good for you, I hope you can pull through this time. The really interesting question remains unanswered though: does Strafe still run his "escort service"?
You shouldnt see Paleo as a diet because if you do so, you will struggle keeping your wheight later on. It is more a lifestyle... I don't think that I could Stick with not eating Carbs for the rest of my life!
But keep on doing it, I have some Friends loving it.
In general, exercise and just eating a bit less than necessary I.eg. (-300-500 calories less than you need) is by far the best method in long-term use.
That diet is fine and all, but how about sharing out your calorie count to all of us? Get a widget that connects to a calorie counter so we can watch and support you as you meet those calorie goals?! It would be fun!
5/5 just for promoting organic food. Many people don't realize that organic food is not only better for your health and for the environment but that it also tastes much better.
Hope you'll find the things you need to keep motivated. There is a way to both play and stay healthy, but from my own experience it's often extremly difficult. Best of luck Sheth, I'll be expecting your glorious return!
Good on you, Sheth. I don't doubt that you'll even see improvements in your sc2 play while following this diet. I hope you stick with it, because it would be quite inspirational. Looking forward to seeing some pics of your hot bod in a few months time :D. I've recently quit smoking and started getting healthy too, we can do it together!
On January 22 2013 19:41 Blackrobe wrote: I started a healthier lifestyle just around when you first posted about starting yourself. I have lost 95 pounds since then!
What worked for me was simply: Eat to live, don't live to eat.
But eating is really fucking good.
A lot of the difference between organic and non organic is placebo but placebos work so good luck to you. I wish you the best of luck with your diet and hope your health improves enough for you to continue to play, ideally bw but whatever.
Just be careful! Paleo is great, but you need to closely monitor your animal fats intake, and make sure it's not adversely impacting your cholesterol (lean meats like chicken and fish > fatty meats like pork and beef). In addition, 12 lbs/wk is a dangerous rate of weight loss, so if it keeps up for a few more weeks or so you might want to consult Robbie again or talk to a dietitian here in the States. And definitely consider weight training too when your wrist and hand are able to support it!
Im no expert, but for overweight people I would never recommend running, I especially find sprinting odd... Swimming seems like a no-brainer solution for physical exercise.
As someone who also suffers from weight issues, I can't stress enough how important it is to stick to the plan. I started dieting right around 300lbs (I'm 6') and continued until I hit around 210. It took around 8 months with the diet I was using which I'd consider pretty good.
After I hit 210, I stopped. I was being treated better, I felt healthier, and I just wanted to go back to eating junk food every once in a while.
After a year of that, I was back up to 290lbs.
Stick to the plan, sir. I'm struggling myself to get back on track. Have faith in the healthy lifestyle. Find something to sooth those late-night urges. For me, it was breathmints. I went through hundreds of packages of cheap breathmints and while it wasn't food, it got me through the nights where I couldn't sleep.
Good luck, you have a ton of support from the community and we believe in you.
Stay strong my friend! What's important is that you are prioritizing your health. I dieted/exercised not long ago and had great results. I know how it is to fight the cravings for food that we shouldn't be eating. It's tough but with the right attitude and support around you it will make it that much easier. If you need any tips or advice just get ahold of me. Be glad to help however I can. :D
It's sort of funny how I am about as tall as you are, used to weigh almost as much as you do, and I also have RSI I lost about 30lbs from just eating less and having an attitude change and I didn't even do it intentionally either lol... GL HF Sheth!
Wrote a big fucking post, wasnt logged in, disappeared...
Whatever, I wish you the best and I'm glad you're doing what you're doing! Keep at it as you're in it for life! I'm cheering for you, and I will keep cheering for you when you come back to playing. You're an awesome dude!
Gonna try to write what I wrote shortly: You're most likely sugar addicted (most of us are), and a natural response when the body thinks it's beeing deprived of sugar is headaches. A reason why the fruits releave your headaches is because they contain fructose (which is one of the parts of sucros, which is what's in candy and other processed foods)
So basically you tell your brain that "it's fine, I'm getting my fix!". If you want to remove the headaches quicker you can try to remove fruits from your diet at a slow pace until they are completly out of it, and then keep it that way for a few days/up to a week. Then go back to eating fruits (since they rock for alot of reasons), as you hopefully should be abit more releaved from headaches by then.
And remember to always drink ALOT of water, regardless of where you live, as it helps transport nutrients through your body more effectively, and it will even help you somewhat with cravings and hunger.
Anyway, keep at it, you will be a better version of yourself =)
if you live near a gym , for ~6 hours a week you can pound weightloss and look pretty fit by the time you've lost weight too. read the OPs of TLHF and the Starting Strength exercise wiki.
its good to pick up gym alongside eating healtiher because they support each other and if you fuck up one for a while then the other will help keep your motivational momentum running
Hey sheth! (I hope you will read this) Iv'e loong been following your sc2 career because i really enjoy your playstyle of the zerg race, but most of all that you where (still is) the nicest person i have ever seen or heard of! When i read this blog i was so happy cause this means that you are taking care of yourself and to me that's a huge thing to see someone i really admire and like do something like this.
Iv'e been trying to reach a high level of sc2 but have been "blocked" by hand injuries and me being really tired whenever i play so i loose my concentration and cant focus on the game/practice.
Im also "fat" and weighed 143.7kg last week on monday (jan 14th), and i made a test at the doctor and it turned out 86kg of that weight was muscles, mostly cause i was quite athletic at young age (i'm 19 atm) but quit when i got a knee injury (so i kept eating the same amount and got fat )
Anyway since i started to commit to this really hard i have gone down drastically aswell, and now (Tuesday 22nd) i weigh 138,7kg, and i wish to continue my journey to loosing weight! I truly hope you will continue aswell as you now have become a new motivation for me to continue this!
I wish you the best of luck Sheth and know that you are one of the persons i admire most in my life! (You and TLO <3)
PS. Sorry if my grammar isn't the best, this isn't my native language (actually my third language i learn)
Keep it up Sheth. If you can get through the vomitting the rest of the exercrise will be super easy.
There's always a wall with losing weight though. The first 10 or 20 pounds are the easiest to shed and fastest to come off. After that its all about perserverence as the results don't come as quick as at the start and it's hard to stay motivated when you don't see any changes.
Paleo will work, but it's not because it's what the cavemen ate. It will work because the food that you eat while eating paleo is food that is good for you.
The only thing that matters for losing weight is how many calories you eat and eating a variety of foods. Meat, vegetables, fruits, whole grains.
Figure out how many calories you eat now and eat less, you will lose weight. Calorie counting is kind of a bitch though and honestly you don't have to do it to lose weight. As long as you are aware that you need to eat and avoid the high calorie foods you will be fine. You can pretty much snack on as many vegetables and to some extent fruit as you want.
Paleo will work, but it's not because it's what the cavemen ate. It will work because the food that you eat while eating paleo is food that is good for you.
The only thing that matters for losing weight is how many calories you eat and eating a variety of foods. Meat, vegetables, fruits, whole grains.
Figure out how many calories you eat now and eat less, you will lose weight. Calorie counting is kind of a bitch though and honestly you don't have to do it to lose weight. As long as you are aware that you need to eat and avoid the high calorie foods you will be fine. You can pretty much snack on as many vegetables and to some extent fruit as you want.
On January 22 2013 21:38 endy wrote: 5/5 just for promoting organic food. Many people don't realize that organic food is not only better for your health and for the environment but that it also tastes much better.
Good luck with your diet !
Organic food is usually very healthy and tastes good, but it's not necessarily any healthier/tastier than non-organic food. A lot of it comes down to marketing and perceived benefits, which may not be completely accurate.
I don't mean to derail the thread or anything, but just because something is grown organically does NOT mean it's always better for the environment. In fact a lot of organic food is shipped over very long distances so the exhaust and fuel that goes into transporting it usually outweighs the amount of pesticides that go into the soil at local farms.
Here's a funny video on the subject if you want to learn more.
Sheth, if you read these posts, here is what I got to tell you:
After Grubby, you're my favourite player since forever. I started watching your stream early on and your joining TL was one of the most inspiring things in E-Sports for me. Be it interviews, be it your stream, be it your attending tournaments: I follow all of your stuff.
So for selfish reasons, as I want to see more of your games in tournaments and since I genuinly believe that a person like you deserves all the happiness they can get, I hope you pull through with your diet, become more healthy and get back on track in SC2.
€ Also: I lost 30 kilos myself (from 90 to 60, I'm like half your height) and I can't stress enough how much better one feels.
I am happy to hear about you wanting to change your life like this. When it gets though always remind yourself that you had to stop playing SC because of the problem affecting your wrists. I am also going through some mentality changes through which I finally feel like i can DO what I want to do and know I should be doing but for whatever reason was not(always postponing stuff). I am a big fan of your gameplay and personality and I wish you the best!
Congratulations on finding a very solid starting point for life-long healthy eating; you ought to feel and look vastly better in the coming months. That said, there are some subtleties and variations on the general "Paleo" theme that can make all the difference in the long run. I feel compelled to share some information with you that I think is pertinent to your situation, and I hope you will discuss some of it with your doctor, who seems to be an intelligent fellow.
Based on the description of your diet it sounds like you may be on a very low carbohydrate version of Paleo, wherein you consume around or even less than 50-60 grams of carbohydrate a day. This level of carb intake can be therapeutic for a variety of conditions (diabetes, epilepsy, other neurological disorders), but it has its drawbacks over time. Some versions of Paleo include a consistent carbohydrate intake of 100-150 grams per day for this reason, and some people seem to do better in the long run on this level of carbohydrate consumption. Some people whose weight loss stalls after a month or two on VLC Paleo plans can resume weight loss once consuming some additional carbohydrate in the form of various fruits, milk sugars, and so-called "safe starches" such as well-cooked white rice, white potatoes, sweet potato, squash, cassava, and so forth.
There has been extensive debate within the Paleo community concerning the suitability of various carbohydrate intakes and the sources of those carbohydrates. I am personally of the opinion that a carbohydrate intake around 150 grams is superior for long-term health and weight loss than the sub 100 range, especially if a person is physically and mentally active on a regular basis (as you are given your new exercise regimen and SC2 career). If you experience prolonged fatigue, dark circles under the eyes, dry mouth, dry eyes, or constipation in the coming months I would suggest that you consider increasing your carbohydrate intake. The following links are good resources on this issue if you would like to look into it further:
That aside, I think there are some specific things that you could make an effort to include in your diet and/or supplementation that would prove especially helpful. Adding 1 to 2 tablespoons of plain gelatin into your diet on a daily basis would almost certainly help with your joint pain and general health. Gelatin (cooked collagen) is rich in the amino acids glycine and proline, which are relatively scarce in muscle meats and organ meats, and it is very low in methionine and tryptophan, which abound in muscle meats. Consuming gelatin (or bone broth, which contains gelatin) in addition to muscle and organ meats can mitigate any potential issues from a skewed intake of amino acids that may occur with gratuitous consumption of meat in the absence of consuming connective tissue. Paleolithic hunter gatherers would not have been eating pure muscle meats in isolation -- they also ate the skin, tendon, bone marrow, and organs such as liver and kidney. This would provide a significantly different intake of various vitamins, fats, amino acids, and minerals than simply eating muscle meats. An interesting article on the possible benefits of gelatin/bone broth consumption:
I don't want to write a book here so I will try be a bit more succinct in terms of supplemental additions that might be of help (to be discussed with your doctor, of course):
4 ounces of ruminant (beef, lamb, bison) liver once per week - for preformed vitamin A, copper, B vitamins, heme iron, choline
Vitamin K2 (distinct from vitamin K1) - as MK-4 or MK-7, for regulation of calcium metabolism generally and bone/joint health in particular
Vitamin D3 - for proper absorption of calcium, immune function, bone health
Vitamin C - for recycling the cellular antioxidant glutathione, creating collagen, immune function
Iodine (as potassium iodide or from seaweed such as kelp) - for thyroid function and immune function
Zinc - immune function, endogenous antioxidant production (zinc-copper superoxide dismutase)
Magnesium - bone health, stress reduction, sleep quality
Vitamin E - to prevent peroxidation of polyunsaturated fatty acids -- an especially important function during weight loss
Chromium - important for glucose metabolism (bringing glucose into cells)
Vanadium - involved in thyroid function and glucose metabolism, both especially important for weight loss
Silicon - upregulates collagen formation, helps wound healing, may increase bone strength -- could be useful for your joint pain
As to the specific dosages of each, I could give you sensible recommendations but I feel it would be better to discuss these things with your physician. None of these are esoteric herbs or wacky supplements - they are all natural factors in the diet and human metabolism that are often provided in suboptimal amounts even when eating a whole foods Paleo-type diet.
Please consider some of these things in addition to the very important steps you have already taken, I think you could benefit greatly from their implementation.
With the number of nutrition experts and dietitians who have come out of the woodwork to your aid, how could you fail I wish you the best of luck both with your health and in sc2. Hope to see you streaming again soon!
I love Liquid WAY MORE than before because of this. Was reading through the lines with a smile, feeling happy that you found your way and that your co-workers / boss are mostly friends that want you to be healthy and support you.
I was once at 107kg (236 pounds) and now I am 90kg (198 pounds). The difference is brutal. First of all, you feel you have way more energy for everything. I don't feel sad for no reason anymore... this on is weird, but it really did affect my mood for the better. I also don't think that it is hard to lose weight anymore, since I have so much more energy.
One tip I could give you is to use some kind of fitness app to keep track of what you do. I use RunKeeper and it tells me a lot of different data from the exercise I just did just by having a smartphone with me. It is specifically useful for when I go biking because it even maps how far I was going from time to time and tells me on my headphones the speed I am at (lowers the music for me too before saying it and then levels it back once again after it).
We all want you to be happy, Sheth! Go on, we are cheering for you!
Good for you man. You'd find faster weight loss combining that diet with some weight lifting. Weight lifting would SHRED some weight off, along with make you feel fucking amazing.
You should check out bodybuilding.com and read some of the articles and what not. It's not as much cardio, but if that's an issue and hurts/makes you sick, weight lifting is a very good alternative.
i dont understand how people can get so big, i eat bad food regulary and drink soda daily but ive never been above 85kg for my 185cm. I do exercise regulary but does that really keep me from weighing 140+ kg?
I doesn't matter what diet are you on, what matter is stick to it. Most of the people having this issue easily say i have tried all the diets? - and somehow realized they didn't work and started overeating again.. funny shit. Main cause are fucked up emotions. News flash. That won't go away even if you have perfect weight. My advice is try to set apart the emotional stuff and eating. Don't mix those two - they don't mix. Your headaches and sweet craving are just scumbag emotional crap tricking you back in your safe place of sugar clogged arteries.
Only thing that works in weight lossis calories intake and calories spending. Learn about that and practice it for the rest of your life. Try to balance your diet but even if you can't balance it sometimes just watch the calories intake. And this lasts forever. LIfetime! Learn to deal with emotions, food will never cure it. And yes, its hard, its fucking hard, im not talking about weight loss, thats childs play but to face your emotions and problems that are causing your habits - that's the only way - everything else is a lie.
People usually take like 50 circles of loosing weight and getting it back. It's like chasing your fucking tails. Just because they don't understand its not the weight that's the problem. Have more courage that most of the people and don't chase your tail. I could go on and on and on... but at the end, it's gonna be you that will have to take YOUR life under control in the best way you can. Good luck!!! I wish you all the best! Sorry if this sound rough, but its the truth. Problem is not the weight or food - it's emotional scars - deal somehow with that and you are good with everything.
like 5 kg in a week!? didn't know paleo would flush out the water retention with such extreme speed. Guess you might not read this post, but anyway; many people are disheartened when they initially lose a lot of weight due to lessened water retention, and then slow down or just stop weight loss. Don't be, normally water retention is somewhat cyclic with "flushes" like the one you've now experienced, the loss of fat, the important loss, WILL be constant but potentially masked by water. Starting with overweight and doing any paleo-esque strictly is fail-safe. Good luck!
On January 23 2013 17:42 CYFAWS wrote: like 5 kg in a week!? didn't know paleo would flush out the water retention with such extreme speed. Guess you might not read this post, but anyway; many people are disheartened when they initially lose a lot of weight due to lessened water retention, and then slow down or just stop weight loss. Don't be, normally water retention is somewhat cyclic with "flushes" like the one you've now experienced, the loss of fat, the important loss, WILL be constant but potentially masked by water. Starting with overweight and doing any paleo-esque strictly is fail-safe. Good luck!
Agree with above post. When you cut out carbs and salt, and start a decifit, you'll see a very large loss from water weight and GI track emptying. It'll slow after the first week or two, and you'll see something closer 2-5 lbs a week depending on how much you have to lose. As CYFAWS said, it'll cycle a bit, so just push through each little plateau, and stay strict. It's a great program and a great plan! Keep it up, dude! :-)
I admire you for what you're doing Sheth. It requires a lot of courage to do stuff like this and I sincerly hope you'll succeed and that you'll be back stronger than ever in Starcraft. Good luck Shawn!
I know you've said you're doing the Paleo diet, but I just want to bring up something else you may be able to discuss with those close to you. My friend recently went through a Ketogenic diet and made a Google doc regarding it. He lost 80lbs in about 9 months, with not much exercise.
I encourage those interested to give it a read and perhaps give it a try. It's a pretty tough diet if you don't have the resources to completely ignore carbs, but it's a pretty effective diet for straight fat loss. Once you've gotten down to a level you're comfortable with, you can reasonably re-introduce carbs along with exercise to keep yourself at a good phase.
All that said, glad you're taking the time to focus on yourself and your health. Everyone knows how manner you are, and we can only wish you success in whatever you're doing now and in the future. Hopefully we can see you happier, healthier and back playing soon.
Great to hear you have an 'expert' helping you out whenever you need it! I think stopping playing or reducing it a lot is a good option too and change it with a hobby like Tennis or whatever you like. Just like Ret did, if i don't recall wrong.
I have been doing cross fitting/ Paleo myself for 4 months now and I would just like to say that Paleo really works, stick to it and hope you return to SC2 soon
Best of luck to you Sheth! It is courageous of you to make such a commitment to getting yourself healthy at the expense of your passion for competing in sc2, but I am sure that you will come back from it happier, healthier, and more motivated than ever.
As a side note, have you ever considered that the whole playing with your keyboard in your lap thing contributes to the pains in your hands? Do you think this is a problem and are you looking to try and change in the future?
Excercise will not only get easier but start to feel really really good and whenever you feel like you cant go anymore just force out a smile and it will get easier. Worked really well for me.
I'm a doctoral candidate in Immunology and because you are of white European descent cutting out wheat will do wonders for you (gluten is inflammatory in nature to all people of European descent)! Paleo is a great diet - science approved! A lot of people base their diets off of the food pyramid... but what people don't realize is that it was developed by politicians and at the time the US had tons of grain crops and tons of dairy farmers... so naturally that's what they put on the pyramid as the things you "need most".
I'm glad you found this diet cause it really is one of the best! Good luck and keep it up!
You should start doing BJJ. Brazilian Jiu-jitsu...... its amazing exercise and a great learning experience. I know a couple 300lb'ers who started and they didn't stay that heavy for long. One guy was 300+ in march when he started, by September he was 220.
Especially great if you've done/liked wrestling before. Plus its a 1v1 sport, with lots of strategy and tactics.
I've been in the army for 4 years and this is by far the best and easiest diet to follow. When I read the headline I was really hoping you came across this diet. It will work,. The only ingredient left is time.
One tip. Once the weight is down buy some sort of minimal shoe to run in. I like the new balance Minimus. Once you get used to running on the tips of your feet and using your calves to absorb the shock, you'll be able to rely on running as big source of your exercise. Knee problems come from landing on your heels.
There'll be a time when you'll be forced to play with the keyboard on your desktop because you'll be so sharp that there'll no longer be enough space to put it on your legs
Gogogogog Sheth! I've known large guys (somewhat just by how they are and some of it bad habits) who have done the cave-man diet and they have felt it very worthwhile! We all have your back on this and know there are tons of us supporting you. We want to see a healthy, happy Sheth!!!
Hey Shawn! Good luck with your efforts to focus on your health!
I'm sure in 15 pages of comments I have not read someone's already said this, but please be sure not to get discouraged if you find that your weight loss slows down quite a bit over the next several weeks. Because the particular diet you've chosen is generally very light on sugars and starches, it stimulates your body to shed water weight at the beginning, which can produce an immediate, dramatic drop. Over the longer term, you'll probably continue to lose weight, but it will be much slower. This is fine, because losing weight more slowly is associated with much better long-term outcomes, but it's possible to find it discouraging if you're not ready for it.
Also, don't be worried if your weight loss plateaus for a month or more. If that happens, just make sure you're not eating more than you had been before. You're probably not -- it's hard to overeat when your diet is primarily fat, protein, and vegetables, but it's possible, and some people do. If you're all clear on that front, just keep at it, since it's quite possible to lose weight in fits and starts.
Finally, while it's worth keeping an eye on how much you're eating, don't let yourself go hungry for too long. My personal experience eating similarly to what you're planning is that I feel quite full for a VERY long time, and then suddenly I'm extremely hungry. I find this makes it easier to listen to what my body's telling me about its need for nutrition, and unlike when I'm eating foods heavy in sugars and starches, I have a strong sense of when to stop.
Interestingly, I have discovered along the way that in my own case I very likely have a wheat allergy. I've suffered from chronic allergic symptoms for a long time, mostly coughing and sinus problems, and when I lay off wheat products for a week or more, a lot of that goes away. Obviously that particular thing is pretty specific to me, but it was a nice thing to realize.
I think its quite courageous of Sheth to come forward with his struggles publically like this and I really wish him the best of luck in this endeavour. The obesity from which Sheth suffers is dangerous and it is necessary for his well being to bring his weight down in the long term. This is far easier said than done and will require years of work to do. As Sheth described, exercising is not so simple. Obesity brings its problems with knees and I can assure you that Sheth understated the pain that comes with a torn meniscus. It is its own special kind of hell.
I'm not a fan of "1 size fits all" diets, but finding a diet that works for you so that you can reduce the number of total calories going in is essential. Ideally you want to avoid things which have empty calories like sugary beverages and juices as well as low satiety, high caloric foods like french fries. You want to reduce portions of things you like gradually so you don't make yourself miserable in the process of making a transition. T
This needs to be combined with a good exercise program that consists of at least 3 days / week of 45 minutes each. You typically want to start gently and even extensive periods of walking make a big difference. In Sheth's case I would recommend swimming to take the stress off the knees as he recovers. The best kinds of exercise are things that someone can enjoy so it doesn't feel like work. We often recommend girls take up dancing or combining passive activities like watching tv (or streams!) with running on a treadmill, for example.
It is remarkable that Sheth managed to lose as much weight as he did up to now and he should be congratulated. As Lysenko described, there are 2 phases to weight loss and the first phase is always much faster than the 2nd more long term phase.
Good luck, Sheth, we're rooting for you.
(And Nazgul once again demonstrating how he is one of the classiest, most awesome figures of e-sports <3).
EPT
you seemed kinda tall, but not that tall :D
![[image loading]](http://newspaper.li/static/9b580c0f5aef4ac9111b0530ece1385b.jpg)
and use it 20 minutes per day. it's used as a recreational tool for people after they injured arms and/or fingers, it increases the blood circulation in the fingers, regular use basically prevents all symptoms of RSI and carpal tunnel etc (it doesn't cure the existing injury though so if you have something serious u need to get that cured 1st). I don't even know why no programer is using these things... and it's fun too.
