chino,

are you training to be  a cage fighter?

I'm 6'1 and 255. And I actually prefer smaller bikes. The biggest one i've owned to date is a Yamaha XS 650. Have ridden a Goldwing and a couple of GS1000's. Too damn heavy for me.

I'm 6'6" and weighed in at an all-time high of 262 this winter.  I did Atkins and started doing light exercise--lost 35 lbs.  I did it for a number of reasons, chief among them that I needed to make weight for getting into the Navy JAG Corps (231 lb is the limit for my height).  I also didn't want to be a b ig fat load anymore and I didn't want to die young.

I'm still pretty chunky, but the push-ups, sit-ups, dips and running are taking care of that.

I highly recommend the Atkins diet as a way to lose a ton of weight in a short amount of time.  I'm not sure how it would be for a sustained lenght of time, or as a lifetime plan, but for short-term loss, you can't beat it.  I mostly ate salads w/grilled chicken or something similar, and tried to shy away from the high-fat atkins plan a lot of people take.

In order to make your losses stick, you gotta slowly add in exercise and make regular exercise and sensible eating a part of your life.  

Don't let anybody make you feel crappy about your weight, but if you decide you want to make a change, it's easier than you think.  Set realistic goals, work with a trainer to lay down a plan, and stick to your plan.  I also recommend staying away from scales, in favor of using a measuring tape to guage your progress.  As you exercise, your body will change, and your proportions will begin to be more "athletic."  Men's Health usually features this measuring tape method of charting progress every few months.

Good luck!

Quote from: raylarrabee

In order to make your losses stick, you gotta slowly add in exercise and make regular exercise and sensible eating a part of your life.  

well said.

and one more thing to add to the list...

SLEEP enough.  multiple studies have shown that sleep deprivation causes growth hormone levels to increase in the human body (i.e. your body goes into 'fatten-up' mode).  

I workout 1 hour daily, eat a high-protein, low sugar diet (NOT atkins, I get plenty of complex carbs) and sleep 9 hours a night.  I'm 6'3", 180lbs and my body-fat can't be much higher than 8%.

Quote from: raylarrabee
In order to make your losses stick, you gotta slowly add in exercise and make regular exercise and sensible eating a part of your life.  

No, you need to do this step first, before you begin starving yourself.  It's common sense, really...starving yourself will make you real hungry, and dieting does nothing to prepare the victim to cope with the stubborn habits that put the weight on in the first place.  Or second place.  Or third place....  

I got into a bit of trouble last time a diet thread hit the board.  Because the thread was initiated by a GStwin VIP who was in the euphoria stage of some variant of the Atkins diet and I predicted that the diet would fail him as studies have shown that the vast majority of dieters eat it all back within a year or two and have little to show for their suffering.  And what I said is forget about the shortcuts and have the courage to confront the real problems.    It's as a process of elimination.   The truth is, it doesn't take much of the wrong food at the wrong time to over-eat and deferring or limiting gratification is something that has to be learned.  And that scares most dieters, IMO.

Quote from: snapperSuZuki10 heres a challenge for you!
I am 5' 4" and 100 lbs.  How do I gain weight?  
I eat all the time!  In fact.... I'm hungry now.... later gotta go find a good snack!

:lol:

We bulky people hate people like you...

Quote from: Gisser

Quote from: raylarrabee
No, you need to do this step first, before you begin starving yourself.  It's common sense, really...starving yourself will make you real hungry

Actually, I was much less hungry when I was doing Atkins.  It also evened out the energy peaks and valleys that one can experience if one eats a lot of sugars.  There's no easy ways to stay slimmed down--exercise and changes in the way you think about food are the only way to get long term results.

That said, the Atkins diet is a great way to drop a ton of weight in a short period of time.  For me, those rapid losses served as motivation to start working out in order to keep off what I lost and start attacking the rest.  There's no one plan that works for everybody;  I'm just saying what worked for me.

QuoteActually, I was much less hungry when I was doing Atkins.

Yes, this is true at first.  However, after several months if you fall off the wagon you will be facing a ravenous appetite while your confidence will be weakened or shattered.

QuoteThere's no easy ways to stay slimmed down--exercise and changes in the way you think about food are the only way to get long term results.

It's not just how you think about food, it's how you actually eat day in and day out.  The proof is in the pudding.  

QuoteThat said, the Atkins diet is a great way to drop a ton of weight in a short period of time. For me, those rapid losses served as motivation to start working out in order to keep off what I lost and start attacking the rest.

That's what everybody says and, yet, 90-something percent of those dieters who successfully lose weight will gain it all back within 1 or 2 years.   Motivation dries up over time and that's why learning how to eat--and doing it-- before starving yourself is so important.  If you learn to eat right, you won't need to diet.  How well you eat is how well you will look and feel.  

QuoteThere's no one plan that works for everybody; I'm just saying what worked for me.

But you've only just begun.  Remember this discussion 1 or 2 years down the road.