Well, Id say those claims are a bit unfounded. I already follow a pretty rigid diet, eating about 1500cals a day (a relatively small amount for someone my size) and I do my fair share of exercising already, doing two hours of martial arts a week with biking, running, and hopping on the elliptical machine 1-2 times a week. And while I havent LOST weight, Ive certainly changed my proportions and changed a lot of fat in to muscle, especially in my upper body. That's why I was talking anout exercising a smidge MORE. Maybe cut down some additional calories and increase the amount I exercise. Im not some bum who stays inside all day, I mean yeah I enjoy my fair share of video games and being on the computer, but Id take being outdoors over that any day. Nah, Im just a large dude who was born to be built like an oak, not a twig :/
For starters it really would not matter if you are 245 of fat or 245 lbs of muscle you are going to fall very fast. If you happened to somehow get your license to skydive, the vast majority of your skydive’s would be spent alone as you would fall too fast for most skydivers. As for the wingsuit thing, once again that is a hug amount of weight and you would be falling too fast for most to want to skydive with you. Yes, they make giant wingsuits that would make you fall slow but it would take 100’s of jumps on the smaller ones to work up to the larger ones. If you think you are being singled out in life now for your size you have not seen anything as your weight will definitely be a hug hindrance in skydiving. It is not that skydivers are mean but when everyone is paying for the jump, most want to make the most of that money and skydive together(not try and chance after someone that is falling too fast).
Unless you are a power lifter, one thing you really need to stop lying to yourself at 245 lbs you are obese (you are not just a little over weight). I am 6’2” and I currently weight 225lbs with a 50” chest of muscle and I am fat(most all my extra weight is in my gut/love handle area). I am currently in the process of losing weight.
As for your workout and caloric intake that is really all left up to interpretation. When you are doing exercise it is important to look at the intensity of the workout too. When running, doing the elliptical, or biking, how long and fast are you pushing yourself. When you are done are you sweating and a tad exhausted or are you just on the machine doing an easy pace. I see lots of people at the gym that never break a sweat or even slightly push themselves are you one of them? From my understanding for best results you want to vary the speed, sprint for a section then go to a brisk pace and repeat that cycle. As for your caloric intake it is very important to look and the make up of what you are eating. Is there lots of lean protein in it, or is there lots of fat and sugars in it? Also it is important when you are eating too. Are you starving yourself most of the day and having 1500 calorie dinner? When looking at your calorie intake are you including what you drink too?
One last thing I personally have fought with my weight my entire life at 17 I weighed 278lbs. A year later I dieted down to 168 lbs. I spent about 8 years around 175lbs. I then got into working out and put on muscle and at a point some fat. The last 10 years my weight has fluctuated between 200 and 230. When I get up to the 230 I diet down to the 200 mark or as close to it as I can get and in the proceeding 2 years I get back up to the 230 mark. I know my ideal weight is 190 as I have been there several times. I also know that yo-yo dieting is not good and I am trying to find a better balance to stay at my lower weight too. Losing weight can be done it is just really hard work.
I have the same sized chest as you and it's all mostly muscle (I have a small layer of fat between my armpits and should blades). I have a size-able gut, since that's where nearly all of my body fat is stored it seems. I can still see my waist and the entirety of my feet when standing up though, which is better than how it used to be xD But in my family, everyone has a large belly, it's just where my genes have decided to store the majority of my fat I guess (I'm not saying I'm fat BECAUSE of my genes, I'm in control of that. But I'm not as much in control as where fat is stored).
When on the elliptical, I set it to the highest resistance and go as hard and as fast as I can for as long as I can. When I start to feel tired I turn down the resistance but try to maintain my speed. Sometimes I'll also sprint at a lower resistance for a few minutes. When biking or running I'm usually more cautious as I don't want to run somewhere and not be able to get back home (If you lived in my neighborhood, you'd understand), so I usually follow the same route and how confident I'm feeling determines how hard I'm going. Though lately I've been going for stamina since I have a decent amount of strength in my legs already (Don't have any fat on my legs, it's cut nicely, not to brag).
As for diet, I stick mainly to white meats, and lots of green veggies and fruits (Peas, carrots, green beans and strawberries especially. They're my favorite). I have a decent amount of pasta and whole grains, and I don't drink any soda (Except on rare occasions. The glasses of soda I drink per year are probably in the single digits). My main weakness is whole milk which I drink a lot of but I'm making the switch to skim/2% (Can't remember which is healthier at the moment), and for snacks I have all natural pork jerky. As for meals, on week days I have a glass of milk for breakfast (And fruit if we have any and I'm not in a rush), skip lunch because the school lunches are terribly unhealthy and I'd rather not eat, and then have a nice healthy snack when I get home. Something along the lines of jerky, crackers, or applesauce. On weekends I have lunch and it's usually a small Cuban sandwich which has pork, lettuce, tomato, onions, mustard and mayo. And when it comes to meals, my main rule of thumb is to eat until I'm no longer hungry, not until I'm full, and also to minimize carb intakes after 6pm or so. So I usually go to bed at least slightly hungry and if not then I make a habit of exercising when I wake up before breakfast (Usually not something too strenuous, don't have a lot of energy early in the morning and I don't want to get sweaty before I even brush my teeth). I've already had diet-discussions with my doctor in the past and he's asked me to write down and keep track of what I eat, he doesn't have any major complaints besides the whole milk. I suppose the area that needs the most improvement is more variety in my exercising since I mainly do cardio. I really just want to focus on my gut. I've gotten compliments on how my chest and shoulder area is built and on my legs, so my gut is really the only area I'm worried about. Though, my belly measures about 41 inches around so at least it's smaller around than my chest, which is another improvement. I used to be pear-shaped. Now I'm more of an upside-down trapezoid.
And all I meant by being more muscle than fat is that I heard that harnesses are less comfortable/have a tendency to slip or something if you're more fat than if the harness has something more firm to wrap around. And this isn't the first time I've heard about heavier people falling faster, but I don't get why that is? I mean, I'm a broad, wide guy so I would think I'd have surface area going for me.
