CoG Weight Loss Club

[Karak]

It still pisses me off when I think about it. All those people that could have been helpful, but weren't. But what did they know? I started getting laid lmore after all that...becoming desirable again. It was awesome.

It's true. Right now, where I live and work, many people are revolting against the healthy body look. Its more about loving yourself blah blah blah, but I do love myself and don't want to stare at a disgusting fatbody in the mirror. In fact I found that most of them could not lose weight so they decided that bbw and "curves" as they called them were the best thing ever. I tell you, most of these people don't have curves, they have a fucking parking lot on their guts.

I would say 95% of the people I know will either sabotage or say something negative towards anyone else on a diet. I think that's just the way people work.
Me..I say fuck it. I want to have very low body fat and very high muscle content. Thats just me. I want to be healthy. I have been 180 and I have been 290 and I can tell people from experience a shitton of lying is done to yourself to make 290 feel ok.
It's not.

[Kelegacy]

My biggest problem with my wife is there's just all this food in the house that tempts me. She's really upped her intake being pregnant, and she just buys the most random things to eat.

If it's in the house, I eat it. No willpower. Easiest way to avoid eating something is not to buy it. I don't. She does. I cave.

[Bone]

I can't believe what people will tell themselves to justify being that fat. At my heaviest I was sweaty, tired, snored (still snore, but not nearly as much), had sleep apnea, heart palpitations, couldn't go up stairs without getting winded... etc.

I'm not even at my target weight, and still have a lot of muscle to add, but I feel about a thousand times better than I did a couple years ago.

[Karak]

Have either one of you thought of the negative aspect of willpower?
Take a pic of yourself(with clothes) but looking horrible and put it on the fridge. Worked for me. Doesn't work for everyone.

Other than that, you need spouse buy in. You need to sit your sig other down and tell them that you are not happy and they need to help you. If they don't. Well I think that is a larger problem.

As for pregnancy eating thats tough. I know it can cause strange cravings. What I do is I find 1 thing I like that is not that bad and becomes my snack food. Corn of all things is addicting to me for some reason. I have some at all times. I throw it in the microwave and go to town whenever I am hungry.
If we are going out to eat I eat my own items before we go, at least 30 minutes. Works like a charm.

In the end, the best thing is finding the diet that works for you.
For me it was Atkins. Not the tv show, media atkins but the true atkins. For years I have been on it and it's WONDERFUL and my blood work speaks wonders to its success.

[Karak]

Also if any of you ever need suggestions or help pm or post here. This is basically what I do on the side(amongst my 40 other projects). That's one thing about Atkins..unlimited energy:)

[Dark Prince]

So, I know I've said this before, but I never get around to actually doing anything about it. I'm kinda stuck on where to start my own diet. I'm around 180ish, but its' not a good 180.

I want to lose at least 10 pounds, but be in good enough shape that I don't get wore out all the time. I tried in an earlier post to set goals for myself, but that never works out.

I'm considering going to a gym near me and signing up with a membership to get myself in shape especially if I want to get into the military. What would you guys recommend I do to get started? I probably have the poorest pantry in my house, and I'm trying to work on changing that and buying my own selection of food to keep away from what my parents buy.

[Karak]

So, I know I've said this before, but I never get around to actually doing anything about it. I'm kinda stuck on where to start my own diet. I'm around 180ish, but its' not a good 180.

I want to lose at least 10 pounds, but be in good enough shape that I don't get wore out all the time. I tried in an earlier post to set goals for myself, but that never works out.

I'm considering going to a gym near me and signing up with a membership to get myself in shape especially if I want to get into the military. What would you guys recommend I do to get started? I probably have the poorest pantry in my house, and I'm trying to work on changing that and buying my own selection of food to keep away from what my parents buy.

You want to lose 10? Usually people who want to lose 10 actually just need to switch their muscle to fat content and the 10 doesn't really need to go away.
If you want to diet. Walk for 20 minutes and take in 200-400 less calories a day. 2-3 months it will be gone. That is basically the easiest possible thing.
If you want to switch the weight around to muscle. Remember muscle is built from food. You can not gain muscle without eating muscle building fuels. It just doesn't work.
Want to switch muscle for fat.
Don't cut calories at all.
Go to the gym. Sets of 4 with Reps of say 6-10. 3 movements per muscle group and shoot for 80-100% failure on the last lift of the 4 set of each movement. 3 movements means: Bench, butterfly curl, and another chest movement if you want to spot work your chest. Spot lift in the areas you want to build. A switch of 10 pounds could take some time(depends on age)
Consider 2-3 months for either switch(if you want it to stick)
If you want to risk it reversing you could diet harshly and lose 10 pounds in 2 weeks but usually you will run into a 80% failure rate on keeping it off.
Especially if that is 10 pounds of sticky weight(weight that is really hard to lose). If it is, I would consider lifting instead.
Sticky weight and usually the last 10-20 pounds is hard due to the bodies own patterns and chemistry. Many times its easier to get within 10 pounds then lift to get the 10 pounds of muscle which will up your metobolic rate and make losing easier.
Sorry for the spelling and grammer. I am typing fast cause I am heading back to work.

[Serapth]

Oh man do I know what you mean. We're due in July, but I'm at my highest weight EVER. I'm 220 lbs right now. About 1.5 years ago I was 160-170. That's scary.

I need to cut down. My clothes don't fit, I don't like the way I look at all, I have acid reflux in the night sometimes (that's scary), and I now snore. I'm becoming a fat piece of shit. I used to have an athlete's body.

I need to start counting calories again, that's how I dropped my excess college weight. And it stayed off...until I adopted a shitty lifestyle with my girlfriend and now a baby coming along makes us both eat more for some reason.

I've gone back to drinking tons of water, and hopefully something will click and I'll start eating better. I think I'm continually being sabotaged by my girlfriend, too. Even before she became pregnant.

Anyway, I figured I'd post here because misery likes company. But I need to change things...SOON. I know I can do it because I did it before.

Listen to what you are saying!

I got hit with a one two punch. I found out my wife was prego AND quit smoking at the same time... Before that I was the type that couldn't put on weight if my life depended on it, I had been 6'2 170-180lbs for the last decade. Through it all I jumped up to 225lb, none of my close fit, I too got acid reflux and would sweat alot easier then I ever did. 6'2 225 isn't outrageous, but that extra 20 or so pounds sure fucking adds to the effort of going through the day.

Worst part is, I simply couldnt lose it. It wasn't diet ( I could starve myself, wouldnt make a difference ), or exercise. One of my biggest causes was alcohol, which when I cut a case of beer a week habit from my diet, should have caused huge differences. I mean, thats 3 or 4000 calories alone. That should result in 1 - 2 lbs a week drop. Additionally, I upped my exercise and started biking anywhere between 8 and 20 miles a day, easily averaging 100 miles a week.

Uber fucked up thing was... I still wasn't loosing weight. After about two months of not drinking and 1+ hour a day of cardio, I should have seen dramatic results, but I didn't. Finally I started adding Hydroxycut to my diet. I have no idea what the X-factor was, but within a month I was down 20lbs.

I don't generally recommend supplements, but if you find your weight gets stuck even though you are doing all the things you are supposed to be doing ( reduced calories, drinking lots of water, exercise ), I highly suggest you look into it.

That said, I took a bit of a trip off the wagon for the month of december and now have 5lbs to erase. Not a huge deal though, just means I have to stop drinking again and take hydroxycut for a week or two while exercising. It seems once I hit my target weight, my regime is more then enough to maintain my weight. That is, once I lose this bastard of a cold... damned nasty colds going around :(

[benson]

One thing about hitting the plateau even if you think you are doing what you are supposed to be doing (reduced calories, exercising, etc.) - you may actually have to increase caloric intake or exercise less. My girl was stuck while losing weight and was going to LA Weight Loss and they told her she was exercising too much. Once she slowed down a little, she started losing weight again.

[benson]

And another thing. I'm 5'10" and was at about 218, close to 220. I just lost 8 pounds while sick for the last 2 days and am at 210 right now. Anyway, my goal is to get back down to 175 or 180. I was 180 in high school. About 2 years ago I was 190, then I grew wider and have plateaued at this 218 mark.

My first change is to count calories. I've never done so before (I've also never tried to lose weight before), but that is a key component. From research, a simple formula for the number of calories to consume per day to lose weight is 10x (they say 8-12x, I'm going with the middle as it is the easiest math) your body weight. To maintain, you are supposed to consume 15x your body weight.

The second is to start working out year-round. During the spring, summer, and fall, we go on daily walks with the family and that's about all the real exercise I have gotten over the last several years. We have a treadmill, elliptical, and bowflex, so I just need to start using them.

[Karak]

I don't generally recommend supplements, but if you find your weight gets stuck even though you are doing all the things you are supposed to be doing ( reduced calories, drinking lots of water, exercise ), I highly suggest you look into it.

That said, I took a bit of a trip off the wagon for the month of december and now have 5lbs to erase. Not a huge deal though, just means I have to stop drinking again and take hydroxycut for a week or two while exercising. It seems once I hit my target weight, my regime is more then enough to maintain my weight. That is, once I lose this bastard of a cold... damned nasty colds going around :(
Nothing wrong with supplements. The time where people had problems with those SHOULD be long gone. Many contain niacen which is a replacement for ephedra in most weight loss supp's and at incredibly high levels is not good for you. However, the supp you talk about is far below that, in fact it would take many many pills to cause any issues.
Although my diet fixed most of my issues, the one supplement that worked wonders...wonders for me when none did...Tribulis for lifting.
I had tried many supplements with no success. The last one I gave a go on was Tribulis, expecting the same results(little to no effect). The results were pretty amazing. Lifting was a shitton easier(intensity was up) and after having blood tests my testostorone was up a good deal as well(I am 34 and they were starting to dip pretty low).

[Karak]

One thing about hitting the plateau even if you think you are doing what you are supposed to be doing (reduced calories, exercising, etc.) - you may actually have to increase caloric intake or exercise less. My girl was stuck while losing weight and was going to LA Weight Loss and they told her she was exercising too much. Once she slowed down a little, she started losing weight again.

The bodies disaster mechanism is amazing. Whenever it is in constant conflict with the mix of low calories it goes into some pretty severe cost cutting measures to keep weight on. Sounds like the gym gave her good advice.

[Goronmon]

I'm doing this thing with some coworkers that the state sets up. You join as a team, and you track exercise and weight loss statitics, but the only public numbers are for the team as a whole.

Only downside is that since it hasn't started yet, I actually feel like I don't want to start exercising to "save" some of the weight loss for when it actually counts, haha.

Being 250 and only 6'1", I have a lot of weight I could potentially lose.

[Xerxes]

Wow. I'm about 6'1 and I think I could wear 250 nicely. I want to be hulkish. Not like a bodybuilder but like a huge fit. A tight 220 would be the ultimate goal. That's over a 100 pounds to lose. I don't think five miles a day is going to get it.

[Xerxes]

http://www.weightlosswars.com/howitworks

[TheEvilNarwhale]

Changing my diet and exercising a ton has helped me immensely. I am down to about 210 from 255 this time last year. I ride my bike about 6 miles round trip to work every day and I always go run around and throw a football or baseball with friends for a while after work. I stopped eating meat and now I have no heartburn and no nosebleeds (something I have had at least twice a week since I was really young). And I feel great. You won't end up being disappointed with dropping some weight.

[Xerxes]

I took 15100 steps yesterday and burned 4710 calories.

[H.Bogard]

Sabotage. Man I hate that.
When I started loosing weight people would get PISSED that I wouldn't eat what they wanted. I mean seriously angry. I had people leave me cookies, try to put suger on items, just ANYTHING. It is amazing what people will do. Even my mom and dad had to rethink how they did things. It was actually sad and in a way instead of feeling that they were right it caused me to realize that they, and anyone who does this was wrong. Dead wrong. I get ribbed at work for eating the way I eat, and people are always talking about how I am no fun because I wont go to staff functions and gorge myself.
What a weird fucking world.

I hope both you and Bab see success. I know I did and still do.

Tell me about it. I'm not supposed to be fun because I don't want lard hanging down my sides and to die of heart disease at age 45.

Stupid world. Die already!

[Primus]

Compound exercises followed immediately by a good HIIT routine (always go for time, not distance). Take at least a day off each week.

Also, counting calories as opposed to just flat out denying yourself food you like always makes things a little more bearable.

[Purple Santa]

Wow. I'm about 6'1 and I think I could wear 250 nicely. I want to be hulkish. Not like a bodybuilder but like a huge fit. A tight 220 would be the ultimate goal. That's over a 100 pounds to lose. I don't think five miles a day is going to get it.

You would be surprised what walking 5 miles a day will do to your helping of losing weight. Lost weight is lost weight. It's not about it being gone tomorrow. I'm in or was in your boat. I've been nearly 100 lbs overweight a few times in my life, losing then eventually gaining it back. This past August I finally started again and have kept it off despite the holidays and taking a small break. I maintained my lost weight for the very first time in my life. But I did that realizing it's the long haul and not going to happen over night. Take your small losses and your small gains of excercise and be proud. It's easy to dismiss them. Think about it. Were you doing this a month ago? Probably not. Celebrate your change. Sounds corny and all...but it does help to acknowledge any help you are doing to yourself.

[Goronmon]

Wow. I'm about 6'1 and I think I could wear 250 nicely. I want to be hulkish. Not like a bodybuilder but like a huge fit.I think my body needs a break from all this weight, especially with my joint problems from too many years of football and wrestling. Getting down to 210 or even 200 would be a huge help.

[Xerxes]

You would be surprised what walking 5 miles a day will do to your helping of losing weight. Lost weight is lost weight. It's not about it being gone tomorrow. I'm in or was in your boat. I've been nearly 100 lbs overweight a few times in my life, losing then eventually gaining it back. This past August I finally started again and have kept it off despite the holidays and taking a small break. I maintained my lost weight for the very first time in my life. But I did that realizing it's the long haul and not going to happen over night. Take your small losses and your small gains of excercise and be proud. It's easy to dismiss them. Think about it. Were you doing this a month ago? Probably not. Celebrate your change. Sounds corny and all...but it does help to acknowledge any help you are doing to yourself.

I'm glad I'm putting it in. I just think sooner than later I need to ramp it up a notch. Like I said, I think next month I might get on at 24 Hour, and add a little more vigorous work out to the menu.

[Serapth]

You will need to ramp it up over time, but frankly and I don't mean this to sound harsh, but the bigger you are, the easier the pounds come off.

I am not saying its easy, just the ROI is higher. For example, if you are 300+ lbs, doing something like losing a soda a day from your diet could result in a number of lbs coming off. 5 miles a day of walking could result in 5 or 10 lbs a month. Problem is, as you get lighter, the amount of weight loss will go down and the effort required will go up. Then again, you should have more energy, making it less a chore.

[Purple Santa]

I'm glad I'm putting it in. I just think sooner than later I need to ramp it up a notch. Like I said, I think next month I might get on at 24 Hour, and add a little more vigorous work out to the menu.
I love my 24 hour gym. I used to go at 2am all the time. But at least you started now which got you motivated to the 24 hour gym. Good job X.
You will need to ramp it up over time, but frankly and I don't mean this to sound harsh, but the bigger you are, the easier the pounds come off.

I am not saying its easy, just the ROI is higher. For example, if you are 300+ lbs, doing something like losing a soda a day from your diet could result in a number of lbs coming off. 5 miles a day of walking could result in 5 or 10 lbs a month. Problem is, as you get lighter, the amount of weight loss will go down and the effort required will go up. Then again, you should have more energy, making it less a chore.
Absolutely the truth. I've experienced this in the past, in the beginning you drop off major pounds but it slows. But you feel so much better that motivates you to keep going.

[MachEnergy]

Since my wife works for George Mason University, she just got me a year subscripiton to the campus gym for $150. I just went for the first time last night and was blown away by how nice the fascilities are. Every bike/eliptical/treadmill has it's own TV. I turned on the Zune, popped in the ear buds, tuned the TV to Good Times and just zoned out. I gotta say, distraction is amazing! Almost every time I've worked out in the past, I've come away mentally fatigued from boredom. So yeah, I'm starting to get back on the wagon!

#1 Motivation: Lose the gut and gain my jaw-line back.
#2 Motivation: Get my Wii Fit Mii to stop ballooning up like Violet after eating the gum.

[Serapth]

Since my wife works for George Mason University, she just got me a year subscripiton to the campus gym for $150. I just went for the first time last night and was blown away by how nice the fascilities are. Every bike/eliptical/treadmill has it's own TV. I turned on the Zune, popped in the ear buds, tuned the TV to Good Times and just zoned out. I gotta say, distraction is amazing! Almost every time I've worked out in the past, I've come away mentally fatigued from boredom. So yeah, I'm starting to get back on the wagon!

#1 Motivation: Lose the gut and gain my jaw-line back.
#2 Motivation: Get my Wii Fit Mii to stop ballooning up like Violet after eating the gum.

I have a stationary bike hidden behind my couch in my living room. I play on a 110" projector, so I don't need to pay a whole bunch of attention to what I am doing. When Civ came out for the Xbox 360 I got absolutely sucked into that game. One day, I was going for a particularly nasty achievement and spent over two hours biking without realizing it. Biked about 45 miles that day...

Gotta say, I couldnt walk the next day. I agree though, exercise is a thousand times easier if you don't know you are exercising!

[Karak]

Wow. I'm about 6'1 and I think I could wear 250 nicely. I want to be hulkish. Not like a bodybuilder but like a huge fit. A tight 220 would be the ultimate goal. That's over a 100 pounds to lose. I don't think five miles a day is going to get it.

Easily doable good sir.
My co-worker went from 340 to 240 in about 8 months. A bit quicker than he probably should have. His began with listening to some motivational items and then going from there. He began working out and cut portions(NOT FOOD TYPES) and is doing good. Portions are the biggest probem.

[Serapth]

Portions are the biggest probem.

After pop and snacking.

Seriously, the vast majority of people I know that are heavily overweight is directly linked to:
sedentary life style
+ high sugar drinks ( or beer )
+ snacking on crap.



I think portions are actually more a problem to the people that are midly overweight and just cant seem to lose those last few pounds. ( We are trained to eat WAYYYY too much in a sitting... I blame my parents with their whole Finish your plate or you wont get dessert! mindset ).

[Purple Santa]

Since my wife works for George Mason University, she just got me a year subscripiton to the campus gym for $150. I just went for the first time last night and was blown away by how nice the fascilities are. Every bike/eliptical/treadmill has it's own TV. I turned on the Zune, popped in the ear buds, tuned the TV to Good Times and just zoned out. I gotta say, distraction is amazing! Almost every time I've worked out in the past, I've come away mentally fatigued from boredom. So yeah, I'm starting to get back on the wagon!

#1 Motivation: Lose the gut and gain my jaw-line back.
#2 Motivation: Get my Wii Fit Mii to stop ballooning up like Violet after eating the gum.
I've always had stuff to distract me while exercising. I can't imagine not distracting myself. I read books, newspapers, play a DS or PSP and of course listen to music. And I cover my time because nothing is worse than looking at a timer while you exercise.

and to #2...Oompa Loompa doompety doo
I've got another puzzle for you
Oompa Loompa doompedah dee
If you are wise you'll listen to me

Gum chewing's fine when it's once in a while
It stops you from smoking and brightens your smile
But it's repulsive, revolting and wrong
Chewing and chewing all day long
The way that a cow does

[Goronmon]

I blame my parents with their whole Finish your plate or you wont get dessert! mindset.I wish I could blame my parents. My mind sees any food and immediately it's "ZOMG, food! Time to eat! Nom, nom, nom...". Which actually worked fine until my athletic career ended.

[Bone]

I wish I could blame my parents. My mind sees any food and immediately it's "ZOMG, food! Time to eat! Nom, nom, nom...". Which actually worked fine until my athletic career ended.Yeah, my parents didn't do it. I blame my wife who scrapes her plate into mine like I'm a trash compactor... which I gladly went along with for many years.

[Xerxes]

I haven't really changed my diet but I do need to work on portions. I went to Chili's today and ate the whole chicken sandwich. I smarter version of me could have managed to stretch that into two meals damn near. Or ate a grilled chicken salad.

- I do over 8 bottles of water. Almost always have for the past 3 years.
- I've cut soda and fraps which I know can be diet busters. Probably the biggest reason for my weight as I use to kill about 2 liters of Sprite in a day back in high school.
-I need to cut the occasional candy. Also need to cut energy drinks, but sometimes my eyes get to heavy at work.

[Karak]

I haven't really changed my diet but I do need to work on portions. I went to Chili's today and ate the whole chicken sandwich. I smarter version of me could have managed to stretch that into two meals damn near. Or ate a grilled chicken salad.

- I do over 8 bottles of water. Almost always have for the past 3 years.
- I've cut soda and fraps which I know can be diet busters. Probably the biggest reason for my weight as I use to kill about 2 liters of Sprite in a day back in high school.
-I need to cut the occasional candy. Also need to cut energy drinks, but sometimes my eyes get to heavy at work.

Good job. Portions are the largest problem with our diets today. I love the video's that show the McDonalds burger from like 40? years ago and the one from right now. Its such a huge difference.

Some pointers.
8 Bottles of water may stretch your stomach...or keep it stretched, just an FYI. And you can also overhydrate which can be a big problem. Just an FYI.
You could always go to a diet pop(to replace normal pop), then go to water if you are against diet pops.
Energy Drinks are a good way to do things.

I am happy for you man. It sounds like you are taking shit serious which it is. And that makes me happy. GO for it.

[JayVe]

Since my wife works for George Mason UniversityGMU used to be a client of mine for web development. :D

Freakin' small world!

[Xerxes]

You will need to ramp it up over time, but frankly and I don't mean this to sound harsh, but the bigger you are, the easier the pounds come off.

I am not saying its easy, just the ROI is higher. For example, if you are 300+ lbs, doing something like losing a soda a day from your diet could result in a number of lbs coming off. 5 miles a day of walking could result in 5 or 10 lbs a month. Problem is, as you get lighter, the amount of weight loss will go down and the effort required will go up. Then again, you should have more energy, making it less a chore.

I was thinking about that, and first I said March would be when I go into to get on my "vigorous" part of working out. But I think I should add it on as soon as I can bare it. I can reach a nice 30 minute target to an hour on the elliptical with a comfortable amount of effort, but for the step class I know I don't have the gas. I don't see myself lasting the whole class for a few weeks or longer. I participated in this one aerobics mini-class for 15 minutes, pure murder.

Maybe one of these days I'll run.

[Serapth]

I was thinking about that, and first I said March would be when I go into to get on my "vigorous" part of working out. But I think I should add it on as soon as I can bare it. I can reach a nice 30 minute target to an hour on the elliptical with a comfortable amount of effort, but for the step class I know I don't have the gas. I don't see myself lasting the whole class for a few weeks or longer. I participated in this one aerobics mini-class for 15 minutes, pure murder.

Maybe one of these days I'll run.

Dont run, its a terrible exercise for your body, especially overweight.

Runners are crazy, not to mention dropping dead all the time with terrible joint damage and bad hearts!

[Xerxes]

Dont run, its a terrible exercise for your body, especially overweight.

Runners are crazy, not to mention dropping dead all the time with terrible joint damage and bad hearts!

I want be running anytime soon. With my weight it's not a full body experience I like. I tried it the other day, and could only hack it for a minute. But I actually like the quick sprint from time to time. So one day I'll run means like in the future, I wouldn't mind it. Compared to now with the moobs bouncing, and the hard pound of my knee joints hitting the ground. :o

Maybe I should strive more for being able to donate blood again. BP has been too high as of late.

Good job. Portions are the largest problem with our diets today. I love the video's that show the McDonalds burger from like 40? years ago and the one from right now. Its such a huge difference.

Some pointers.
8 Bottles of water may stretch your stomach...or keep it stretched, just an FYI. And you can also overhydrate which can be a big problem. Just an FYI.
You could always go to a diet pop(to replace normal pop), then go to water if you are against diet pops.
Energy Drinks are a good way to do things.

I am happy for you man. It sounds like you are taking shit serious which it is. And that makes me happy. GO for it.

I'm happy for me too. Finally got a decent walking partner. We even encourage the other to go when we don't make it so it's more fruitful and real then my previous work out attempts. Don't like diet pop. 100% OJ and Gatorade are the only things I'll dabble in for varying flavor. And I just drink water because I get thirsty. Can you overhydrate dry mouth.

[Goronmon]

I find free weights to be an awesome exercise. Not only does it make you stronger, the gains are very easy to track and noticeable enough to push you to continue.

[Xerxes]

I find free weights to be an awesome exercise. Not only does it make you stronger, the gains are very easy to track and noticeable enough to push you to continue.

Free weights?

[Bone]

As in, not weight machines but weights that you manipulate in free space- barbells, dumbbells, etc. I think the idea is that with the free range of motion, you work more muscle groups at once (although this can also lead to injury without proper instruction) and see faster gains.

[Xerxes]

Ahhh, yes. As Jack Donaghy say, that's the third heat. I have 20 pound dumbbells, I do bicep curls with. I have a book that has so much more you can do with them but I don't have bench. Something else to do at 24 hour.

Moderate, Vigorous, and Weights

[JayVe]

Ahhh, yes. As Jack Donaghy say, that's the third heat.Kudos for 30 Rock references. It stays at the top of my NetFlix 360 streaming list.

[Xerxes]

Kudos for 30 Rock references. It stays at the top of my NetFlix 360 streaming list.

I can't not love that show. The main leads are perfect. I'm glad Alec didn't leave. It's almost like he never trashed talked his daughter although taping your dad to sell him out to the media; she deserves more trash talkings.

[JayVe]

I can't not love that show. The main leads are perfect. I'm glad Alec didn't leave. It's almost like he never trashed talked his daughter although taping your dad to sell him out to the media; she deserves more trash talkings.

I know not of what you speak. I've seen every episode, several times. Is it something that happened 'off' the show?

[Purple Santa]

Maybe I should strive more for being able to donate blood again. BP has been too high as of late.


And I just drink water because I get thirsty. Can you overhydrate dry mouth.
How thirsty is thirsty? Do you need to drink all day because you are thirsty? I ask because that sometimes is an indicator for diabetes. I don't want to alarm you, it might be nothing more than you are thirsty with dry mouth. You might want to get that checked out with a doctor who can run blood sugar tests.

[Xerxes]

How thirsty is thirsty? Do you need to drink all day because you are thirsty? I ask because that sometimes is an indicator for diabetes. I don't want to alarm you, it might be nothing more than you are thirsty with dry mouth. You might want to get that checked out with a doctor who can run blood sugar tests.

I'm fine. Mother is a diabetic and I've used her monitor a couple of times. And my doctor has even did blood work. I've just always had a need for liquids. Sometimes I'll go grocery store and just load up with milk, water, soda, tea, energy drinks, gatorade, sunny D. I never even think about it until I'm loading it up in the fridge. Now it's all water though. I'm safe for now though. And hopefully once I lose this BELLY FAT, I'll be safe for a lot longer.

I do have slightly high blood pressure. Grrrr. Can't donate blood.

[Xerxes]

I know not of what you speak. I've seen every episode, several times. Is it something that happened 'off' the show?

Yes. Alec's duaghter recorded him verbally abusing her on the phone. He did a public apology although she needs more abusing if you ask me. And then they made it seem iffy about him coming back to 30 Rock and that's a fucking nightmare. But it's so long ago who the fuck cares. It was most entertainment news bullshit.

[Purple Santa]

I'm fine. Mother is a diabetic and I've used her monitor a couple of times. And my doctor has even did blood work. I've just always had a need for liquids. Sometimes I'll go grocery store and just load up with milk, water, soda, tea, energy drinks, gatorade, sunny D. I never even think about it until I'm loading it up in the fridge. Now it's all water though. I'm safe for now though. And hopefully once I lose this BELLY FAT, I'll be safe for a lot longer.

I do have slightly high blood pressure. Grrrr. Can't donate blood.

I'm glad you are aware then. That's half the battle as the cliche goes. Having diabetes run in the family...you certainly know the threat for yourself and diabetes. Losing weight will do wonders for you in many ways...but the best is lowering that chance of diabetes for you. I spent a few months at a dialysis unit for an internship, and it was eye opening. In most cases dialysis can be prevented, it's just if you know the risks, the need to take care of yourself properly increases. I breathe a bit easier now...

[Goronmon]

Moderate, Vigorous, and WeightsAlso don't forget your core (abs to lower back).

[Xerxes]

Also don't forget your core (abs to lower back).

And stretching. :p

[Typical Michael]

I hit my original goal today, which is cool, but I have since lowered it. So still workin at it.

[Purple Santa]

I hit my original goal today, which is cool, but I have since lowered it. So still workin at it.

Hey that's awesome news! Always like to read about anyone hitting their goal. Keep posting on how you are doing on the continued goal.

[MachEnergy]

I hit my original goal today, which is cool, but I have since lowered it. So still workin at it.

Waytago! Just keep going and I'm sure you'll bury that new goal.

I only started working out 5 days ago. So I'm still in the phase where I have to convince myself to keep doing it. Seeing you guys hitting your goals and maintaining good health definitely gives me motivation. Also, seeing that I lost 5 pounds was nice, but I'm sure my body fluctuates 3-5 pounds in a day. I'll start getting truly happy when my loss is greater than 10 pounds.

[Typical Michael]

I just never really thought I would get this far. To me at least, 30lbs was a ton of weight, and I never thought I could stay committed enough to lose it. Might as well keep going until I am perfectly satisfied.

[bapenguin]

So after a solid 8 or 9 days of watching what I was eating, counting calories and consistently coming in under the target goal set by LiveStrong.com

I gained a pound.

I've even been excercising 4 days a week for 20-25 minutes on an Eliptical and lifting 2 days a week with some curls and other minor stuff.

BLAH!

[Purple Santa]

So after a solid 8 or 9 days of watching what I was eating, counting calories and consistently coming in under the target goal set by LiveStrong.com

I gained a pound.

I've even been excercising 4 days a week for 20-25 minutes on an Eliptical and lifting 2 days a week with some curls and other minor stuff.

BLAH!

Well I hope that doesn't discourage you. If you keep up this regimen you will lose weight. I know it's tough to do this then not lose. Don't give up, you have the CoGer's in here rooting for you :)

[Bone]

You probably gained muscle, don't you think? It's not really about weight if you're working out. I'll just congratulate you and leave it at that :)

[bapenguin]

You probably gained muscle, don't you think? It's not really about weight if you're working out. I'll just congratulate you and leave it at that :)

My gigantic belly says otherwise. :)

But yeah, perhaps.

[Bone]

Heh, other people work on their six pack abs- for a long time I worked on my pony keg :)

[MachEnergy]

Don't give up, you have the CoGer's in here rooting for you :)

Root! Then DoT! :p


But seriously for Bap, keep it up buddy. I'm busting my ass at the gym every day after work. I'll keep it up for you if you do the same for me.

seriously, that wasn't meant to sound gay

[Karak]

So after a solid 8 or 9 days of watching what I was eating, counting calories and consistently coming in under the target goal set by LiveStrong.com

I gained a pound.

I've even been excercising 4 days a week for 20-25 minutes on an Eliptical and lifting 2 days a week with some curls and other minor stuff.

BLAH!
Check for 2 things.
Water retention(A true killer of weight loss)
Muscle gain.

[Bone]

Check for 2 things.
Water retention(A true killer of weight loss)
Muscle gain.
Facehuggers. Check for eggs.

[Xerxes]

I've burned 2908 calories before noon. :)

[Mdot]

starting back up with p90x again. Too much shit came up after I finished the last cycle, so I'm planning on getting back into the scheme of things. Put it off for too long

[MachEnergy]

I've burned 2908 calories before noon. :)

methamphetamine is dangerous!

[Xerxes]

methamphetamine is dangerous!

All natural. Walking really puts the numbers up on the board. I was reading somewhere a long drawn out workout can be more beneficial to the quick cardio session.

[Purple Santa]

All natural. Walking really puts the numbers up on the board. I was reading somewhere a long drawn out workout can be more beneficial to the quick cardio session.

Half that shit I take with a grain of salt. It's based upon nothing scientific or research based...more important you exercised...

[Xerxes]

Half that shit I take with a grain of salt. It's based upon nothing scientific or research based...more important you exercised...

Take it worth a grain of salt, but I've burned 3900 calories and the day is far from over. :)

In February though, I plan to drop a lap and go to the gym. If you can go harder longer, do it, but it's not for everyone.

[Karak]

All natural. Walking really puts the numbers up on the board. I was reading somewhere a long drawn out workout can be more beneficial to the quick cardio session.

Correct and incorrect at the same time.
You have to get your heartrate to a specific point before walking/jogging/anything will do what you say.
Walking very slow will NOT continue to burn calories after you stop. But if you say walked 4.5 miles and hour for 2 hours then it will.

A quick cardio is also good, but you moved yo ass! That is the good part. I always hear people say, run or walk so that you can still carry on a conversation...fuck that. Push it..push it real good:)

Oh and the calorie counter is excellent. That is a good solid amount of working out. Congrats.

[Xerxes]

Let's not open the champagne yet. I'm only burning more cause I'm so big. When it becomes a chore to burn 3000 calories, then we'll see what's really up. But I think if I pushed a little bit more I can go 5000 a day.

[Xerxes]

When is this extra energy going to kick in? I'm running on tired more often than not.

[Purple Santa]

It's going to vary from person to person. I usually felt something after 10 lbs but definitely after 20lbs. Others i'm sure will say it's after the first 5 lbs for them. It will happen.

[Karak]

When is this extra energy going to kick in? I'm running on tired more often than not.

If I remember your weight from earlier posts it will be some time. The higher the weight and the longer you are at it the longer it will take to feel that large difference. Sorry but thats the way the body works.

[Xerxes]

If I remember your weight from earlier posts it will be some time. The higher the weight and the longer you are at it the longer it will take to feel that large difference. Sorry but thats the way the body works.

Makes sense. The lighter the am the more I'll perceive myself as having. I can dig it. Guess I was thinking magically I'll just have more energy from being more active.

So far all this walking has seemed to do is make me legs stronger. Haven't lost any weight according to this scale which I think is borked, but my calves really are more awesome. I liked them before but I can only love them now. It'll help in the long run. I already told myself never to sweat the scale, just sweat.

[Karak]

Makes sense. The lighter the am the more I'll perceive myself as having. I can dig it. Guess I was thinking magically I'll just have more energy from being more active.

So far all this walking has seemed to do is make me legs stronger. Haven't lost any weight according to this scale which I think is borked, but my calves really are more awesome. I liked them before but I can only love them now. It'll help in the long run. I already told myself never to sweat the scale, just sweat.

Good job. These things take time. The more you need to lose the more you need to work.
Its been debunked hundreds of times that working out just randomly gives you energy, other than the occasional perfect storm where time of day/nutrition and energy levels link up.
Instead, think of it as a rubber band that slowly gets stretched more and more. What you perceive as random energy is actually a stretching of your own resources. Your own capability growing.

[Kelegacy]

When is this extra energy going to kick in? I'm running on tired more often than not.

You shouldn't be running tired. How much are you eating, calorie-wise? Unless you are working out quite a bit, you shouldn't be having any less energy than you did at your starting point. In fact, the opposite should be true.

[Xerxes]

You shouldn't be running tired. How much are you eating, calorie-wise? Unless you are working out quite a bit, you shouldn't be having any less energy than you did at your starting point. In fact, the opposite should be true.

I've gone from a average walking 1 mile a day, according to me pedometer, to about 5 a day. Some days it's been up to 7.5 miles. Maybe I am burning any new energy on the track.

[Karak]

I've gone from a average walking 1 mile a day, according to me pedometer, to about 5 a day. Some days it's been up to 7.5 miles. Maybe I am burning any new energy on the track.

That is correct as I already said. You posted in the past how many calories you burned. That is an enormous amount and is one of the reasons you can feel run down. You could also take a random day off as well.

[The Doctor]

I started a new healthy diet two weeks ago. Dropped fast food and so on, and I'm trying to eat more regularly with more fruits and vegetables. I've lost about 6 pounds (From 178 to 172). It's not huge loss, but so long as it's steady, I don't mind about the speed.

Had a killer headache the first few days though. And I'm pretty sure when you gorge yourself on triscuits, it's still unhealthy (at least not as bad as say, potato chips)

My dieting secret? Drop sodas. They're killer. I drink almost nothing but ice water now.

[Kelegacy]

I've gone from a average walking 1 mile a day, according to me pedometer, to about 5 a day. Some days it's been up to 7.5 miles. Maybe I am burning any new energy on the track.

Well yeah, in that case it makes sense you're feeling a bit drained. That's good. Eventually you won't feel as drained as you're body will get used to the extra workout. You'll find yourself doing the 7+ miles and having room for more, or feeling that extra energy at home.

I know every spring when baseball practice would roll around I'd be dead for weeks until my body transitioned over and it started to become more fit again.

I really need to lose weight, as I was at the clothing store today and saw myself in the mirrors. I was buying a pant size bigger than I've ever worn before and I looked/felt like a fat ass. I hold the weight well, but my body is starting to really feel it.

When I lost 50 lbs back in 2006/2007 in 3/4 months, I felt so damn good. I had to buy a new wardrobe, but I had so much more energy. Not carrying around that extra weight really helps. I want to lose about 50-60 lbs, and I think I'm going to crack out the cloudrider machine today (or whatever it's called). It's folded up here in our apartment and I need to sweat it out. After that shock in the dressing room mirrors, I need to do something. I think I have about 3 pair of pants that fit, and I can't "reward" myself by buying bigger sizes.

With a pregnant girlfriend, this will be tough, but I want the pictures on his/her birthday to show dad as not a husky guy, but as the lean, athletic dude who spawned him.

[Kelegacy]

My dieting secret? Drop sodas. They're killer. I drink almost nothing but ice water now.

High fructose cornsyrup kills my stomach, hence no regular sodas for me. I was drinking lots of diet sodas and ginger ale for the last year and I felt like I needed to get off the carbonated beverages (not counting the occasional beer).

Now I drink more juice, but only half a glass with the other half filled with water, and we have gone through a case of bottle water a week now. Even my girlfriend is getting into the water fad, and she's a diet soda chick (though caffeine free now that she's pregnant).

Bottled water isn't much better than tap (taste tests have proven this), but it's much easier to just grab a bottle out of the fridge, sit down and play a game or watch a flick, sipping at it. I think it's a mental thing. I might have to start filling up the empty bottles with tap water to save some cash. Thankfully Poland Spring has been on a big sale around here the last few weeks, and today I picked up two cases of $3 Nestle Pure Life. I think it's only purified tap water, but whatever. I guess it's better than spending $3 on a case of soda.

[Purple Santa]

Had a killer headache the first few days though. And I'm pretty sure when you gorge yourself on triscuits, it's still unhealthy (at least not as bad as say, potato chips)



Killer headache could be from gouging on carbs (triscuits). Your blood sugar levels are dropping quickly giving you headaches most likely. Pop yourself some popcorn. It's a healthier snack and is high in fiber, meaning it will fill you up easy.

[PathMaster]

Now I drink more juice, but only half a glass with the other half filled with water, and we have gone through a case of bottle water a week now. Even my girlfriend is getting into the water fad, and she's a diet soda chick (though caffeine free now that she's pregnant).

I also do this. Half glass of cranberry juice and the rest is water. Works well so far.

[Xerxes]

Wait you dilute a cup of juice with water?

Also, I've grown picky, and can tell my tap water from tap and even water out of a purifier. It's hard but I've been forcing my self to order water at restaurants. But you are right about the ease of grabbing a water and going.

[Blue]

Well, it looks like I'm going to be jumping on the exercise and watching-what-I-eat train. Just got back from the doctor for my regular check-up and (while this was suspected so not out of nowhere), I have stage 1 hypertension. High blood pressure runs in my family and I need to start getting readings every other day just to monitor it along with blood-work done to see if it's salts, etc. that's causing it to rise. So in a month I'll know specifically which diet I go on to lower it so right now I'm on "generic diet" until then.

The good news is, I've been wanting to lose weight for a while now and start exercising more but my wife and I are both terrible at checking one another in that department. Having been told this today, it's an excellent excuse to get myself in check and back on track. The up-side to being told this (aside for the exercise excuse) is this is certainly something I can fix just by changing what I do which is a good feeling.

So yay. Now to start walking and watching what I eat (no more Dr. Pepper - boo) and then, after I get my dietary orders next month, I may join the gym which is something I once swore never to do :).

[JayVe]

Wait you dilute a cup of juice with water?

Yep! Actually, I dilute my water with juice. I pour mostly water, and top it off with a little juice. I've gotten to where I put in a splash of 100% juices and a few drops of lemon juice. These days, a straight glass of juice is almost too sweet for me.

[Xerxes]

Yep! Actually, I dilute my water with juice. I pour mostly water, and top it off with a little juice. I've gotten to where I put in a splash of 100% juices and a few drops of lemon juice. These days, a straight glass of juice is almost too sweet for me.

I've been drinking V8 Splash and OJ as far as juices go, and not even full glasses. They do just the trick before going back to water.

[Serapth]

Yep! Actually, I dilute my water with juice. I pour mostly water, and top it off with a little juice. I've gotten to where I put in a splash of 100% juices and a few drops of lemon juice. These days, a straight glass of juice is almost too sweet for me.

Koolaid singles is another good substitute. They are about 30 calories per packet and ad a ton of flavor to water. Myself, I like water, but my wife can't stand it, thus the koolaid.

Pop should actually have as negative a stigma as beer and alcohol have and slowly I think we are getting there. I wouldnt be surprised to find out pop kills as many people as alcohol, if you ignore things like car accidents.


@TheDoctor, I would almost put money on the fact of your headaches is caffeine withdrawl. Most of the people I worked with were actually addicted to caffeine and whenever they would give up coffee or redbull, the headaches would start with a vengeance. On the bright side, its a pretty short withdrawl if you stay off caffeine.

[H.Bogard]

*burrrpp*

I'm at 173 now, down from 195-ish lbs when I first posted in this thread.

Edit: I'd have lost more, but have gained lots of muscle mass as well. Arms and collars, yay!

[Xerxes]

@TheDoctor, I would almost put money on the fact of your headaches is caffeine withdrawl. Most of the people I worked with were actually addicted to caffeine and whenever they would give up coffee or redbull, the headaches would start with a vengeance. On the bright side, its a pretty short withdrawl if you stay off caffeine.

Holy Shit. That could be where my headache come from and my inability to give up redbull or some energy drink. I have one at least every other day. :(

[Kelegacy]

Yeah, I've never been addicted to caffeine. It's weird, but I can only do something for so long before it gets "old" for me. I will go a couple months drinking coffee and then give it up for a few months. I even have to rearrange my apartment a few times a year.

[Xerxes]

I think I gave up fraps for energy drinks for a source of caffeine.

[Nameless]

Well, I've been managing to lose about a pound/week since I first posted in this thread, (about 20lbs) and hopefully, that pace can keep up! I've given up sugary pop (though I still drink a lot of diet pop, something I'm trying to curtail as well), I've been eating better, and walking/exercising more. I picked up DDR for some cardio, and I've been training Jiu-Jitsu with some buddies of mine (it's actually an assignment for one of my classes, how awesome is that?).

My main difficulty is eating. Though I've been eating better, I am by no means eating healthy all the time. I'm not a good cook, and my knowledge of what a healthy meal is, is poor. I've been buying and eating more fruits and vegetables instead of snack food like chips, etc., but I think it's time for me to learn how to cook proper, healthy meals.

[astranoir]

Well, I've been managing to lose about a pound/week since I first posted in this thread, (about 20lbs) and hopefully, that pace can keep up! I've given up sugary pop (though I still drink a lot of diet pop, something I'm trying to curtail as well), I've been eating better, and walking/exercising more. I picked up DDR for some cardio, and I've been training Jiu-Jitsu with some buddies of mine (it's actually an assignment for one of my classes, how awesome is that?).

My main difficulty is eating. Though I've been eating better, I am by no means eating healthy all the time. I'm not a good cook, and my knowledge of what a healthy meal is, is poor. I've been buying and eating more fruits and vegetables instead of snack food like chips, etc., but I think it's time for me to learn how to cook proper, healthy meals.


I signed up for SparkPeople and some of the emails they send are healthy recipes, including some healthy versions of less healthy foods (recent example: broccoli cheese soup). You might want to try that, as from what I have seen, the recipes are pretty straight forward. I haven't actually used the site in awhile, but I think they also have a utility where you can use your own recipes, and if you tell it the ingredients, it will tell you how many calories it is per serving, since you're not entirely clear on how healthy your diet is currently. It's not perfect since it's just counting calories and not telling you if it's balanced, but it might help :)

[Everyone vs Dinosaurs]

Just as a kind of Update of sorts, I think it would be fun if some of you guysos [that are following the weight loss challenge] could fill out something like this:

Time at it:

Pounds lost:

Biggest struggle:

How you are achieving your goal:

[Purple Santa]

Well, I've been managing to lose about a pound/week since I first posted in this thread, (about 20lbs) and hopefully, that pace can keep up! I've given up sugary pop (though I still drink a lot of diet pop, something I'm trying to curtail as well), I've been eating better, and walking/exercising more. I picked up DDR for some cardio, and I've been training Jiu-Jitsu with some buddies of mine (it's actually an assignment for one of my classes, how awesome is that?).

My main difficulty is eating. Though I've been eating better, I am by no means eating healthy all the time. I'm not a good cook, and my knowledge of what a healthy meal is, is poor. I've been buying and eating more fruits and vegetables instead of snack food like chips, etc., but I think it's time for me to learn how to cook proper, healthy meals.

I would suggest Allrecipes.com and Weight Watchers.com. You don't need to be a member at WW to get the recipes. At Allrecipes, you can search through what you wish to cook. It's a big database of recipes, but easy to manage to find what you seek.

[Serapth]

Well, I've been managing to lose about a pound/week since I first posted in this thread, (about 20lbs) and hopefully, that pace can keep up! I've given up sugary pop (though I still drink a lot of diet pop, something I'm trying to curtail as well), I've been eating better, and walking/exercising more. I picked up DDR for some cardio, and I've been training Jiu-Jitsu with some buddies of mine (it's actually an assignment for one of my classes, how awesome is that?).

My main difficulty is eating. Though I've been eating better, I am by no means eating healthy all the time. I'm not a good cook, and my knowledge of what a healthy meal is, is poor. I've been buying and eating more fruits and vegetables instead of snack food like chips, etc., but I think it's time for me to learn how to cook proper, healthy meals.

Want to eat healthy? Eat fresh.
Want to enjoy cooking more? Cook fresh.
Want food to taste better? Buy fresh.

Seriously, it makes a GIANT difference, although it can get a bit expensive. When I lived in Montreal, I live walking distance from Jean Talon Market, which is this giant outdoor farmers markety thing. Anyways, one thing thats weird in Quebec ( atleast compared to other places ive been ), is that apartments often don't come with appliances. So, I got in the habit of eating almost 100% fresh food and DAMN it made a difference.

You live in Ottawa? How close are you to Byward Market? Its a great market as well, plus a neat place to visit. I would suggest, atleast to start, visiting the market once a week to pick up some fresh produce, bread, etc...

Another top tip... buying meat at the grocery store is for suckers! For example, I picked up some striploins at Real Canadian and they were 12.99$/lb and to be honest, the meat quality was meh. I generally buy my meat at a local abattoir and the same cut is 7.99$/lb and is better meat. Not to mention you can often get a butcher to do special cuts for you, which once you learn to cook is a great thing. Making friendly with a butcher is a very good idea.

As a general rule of thumb, the more convenient something is, the less healthy and more expensive it is.

[Purple Santa]

Want to eat healthy? Eat fresh.
Want to enjoy cooking more? Cook fresh.
Want food to taste better? Buy fresh.

Seriously, it makes a GIANT difference, although it can get a bit expensive. When I lived in Montreal, I live walking distance from Jean Talon Market, which is this giant outdoor farmers markety thing. Anyways, one thing thats weird in Quebec ( atleast compared to other places ive been ), is that apartments often don't come with appliances. So, I got in the habit of eating almost 100% fresh food and DAMN it made a difference.

You live in Ottawa? How close are you to Byward Market? Its a great market as well, plus a neat place to visit. I would suggest, atleast to start, visiting the market once a week to pick up some fresh produce, bread, etc...

Another top tip... buying meat at the grocery store is for suckers! For example, I picked up some striploins at Real Canadian and they were 12.99$/lb and to be honest, the meat quality was meh. I generally buy my meat at a local abattoir and the same cut is 7.99$/lb and is better meat. Not to mention you can often get a butcher to do special cuts for you, which once you learn to cook is a great thing. Making friendly with a butcher is a very good idea.

As a general rule of thumb, the more convenient something is, the less healthy and more expensive it is.

I endorse everything stated in this post.

[DylonCorp]

I guess I should post this in here, although I'm not trying to lose weight so much as not be dangerously underweight for the first time in years...

P90X! I can't really hang in their message boards, and I haven't talked with my online coach much, but the workouts themselves? SWEEET! I've been dinking around with the discs for a few weeks, but this week I had a new roommate move in, he's all about cooking at home so I'm eating right, and strangely enough when I eat like a regular hu-man, I can make it all the way through the lessons! (With plenty of "Granny" style).

I don't really want to keep going off unless anyone actually wants to hear about it, but I am feeling amazing. I've done good blow, but I've never felt like I have this week. It's a really good feeling.

My starting info: 5'7" 120lbs
My improvement method: P90X
Results: TBD, however I am optimistic. More than I have been in years!

[Xerxes]

My shitty scaled said I lost about 7 pounds.

[Purple Santa]

My shitty scaled said I lost about 7 pounds.

7 lbs is 7 lbs. Better to lose than gain that.

[Shandor]

Seriously. I've been stalled since April. Then to top that off, I was pissed off at work and took advantage of the snacks for a couple of months. That was a nice 10 pound slide. Trying to work it off now and get back into losing some more.

[Nameless]

Thanks for the recipe advice, guys, I'm excited to try some of this stuff out!

Want to eat healthy? Eat fresh.
Want to enjoy cooking more? Cook fresh.
Want food to taste better? Buy fresh.

Seriously, it makes a GIANT difference, although it can get a bit expensive. When I lived in Montreal, I live walking distance from Jean Talon Market, which is this giant outdoor farmers markety thing. Anyways, one thing thats weird in Quebec ( atleast compared to other places ive been ), is that apartments often don't come with appliances. So, I got in the habit of eating almost 100% fresh food and DAMN it made a difference.

You live in Ottawa? How close are you to Byward Market? Its a great market as well, plus a neat place to visit. I would suggest, atleast to start, visiting the market once a week to pick up some fresh produce, bread, etc...

Another top tip... buying meat at the grocery store is for suckers! For example, I picked up some striploins at Real Canadian and they were 12.99$/lb and to be honest, the meat quality was meh. I generally buy my meat at a local abattoir and the same cut is 7.99$/lb and is better meat. Not to mention you can often get a butcher to do special cuts for you, which once you learn to cook is a great thing. Making friendly with a butcher is a very good idea.

As a general rule of thumb, the more convenient something is, the less healthy and more expensive it is.

That's a really good idea, I don't live too far from the market (about 7-8 blocks), and it would be worth dropping by after class, etc. to pick up some fresh food on my way home. Of course, right now there's not as much available (mostly maple syrup... counterproductive), but in a couple of months...

I guess another main problem is the price. I can't afford to spend a lot on food, I've been trying to make wiser, healthier purchases, but it's still difficult to buy fresh as much as I'd like when I've got to stay on budget.

[Kojak]

What is messed up is that I do not have an ideal BMI. My BMI is fucking 18.7

Thats right I need to actually put on 8kg before I'm at a healthy weight. Decided I won't cheat by eating a lot. I'm going to try and put on muscle weight not fat weight because I am so unfit. On an exercise regime now. It's been a week and I am in absolutely crippiling pain from it. Please someone tell me this is normal and that it will go away.

[Karak]

I signed up for SparkPeople and some of the emails they send are healthy recipes, including some healthy versions of less healthy foods (recent example: broccoli cheese soup). You might want to try that, as from what I have seen, the recipes are pretty straight forward.

I also belong to them. Good group. Though I am doing Nutrisystem now I enjoy Sparkpeople.

I am trying to get back into performance form so I am cutting calories right now. Thank gawd the food is good.

[Purple Santa]

What is messed up is that I do not have an ideal BMI. My BMI is fucking 18.7

Thats right I need to actually put on 8kg before I'm at a healthy weight. Decided I won't cheat by eating a lot. I'm going to try and put on muscle weight not fat weight because I am so unfit. On an exercise regime now. It's been a week and I am in absolutely crippiling pain from it. Please someone tell me this is normal and that it will go away.

It's normal and it will go away. Seriously.

What is your regime of exercise?

[a fat lunchlady]

do not let MachEnergy give you workout advice

[PathMaster]

Started a new job this week, currently setting up the store before it opens. Lots of moving around. I should grab a pedometer to gauge how much I am moving around.

[Karak]

Long post but here goes.
My girlfriend started nutrisystem she was 145 and about 5'8 and wanted to lose about 15-20 as she had always been really into being athletic. I decided what the fuck I might as well.
The date was Jan 1 2009

It has been 1.1 months.
My short review.

Cost-Excellent. 220.00 to 300.00 and a bit of change for a month of food. With maybe another 20-40 for sides. An incredible deal actually and far less than I spent on Atkins. Its packaged and cooks in about 1.5 minutes.

Delivery-Perfect. You can choose the day and time of your money being taken from your account if you do auto delivery, you can choose when to get it delivered and they can leave it at your doorstep. Usually 2 large boxes.

Choices-Excellent. You can choose from maybe 30-40 breakfast foods, another 30-40 lunches, another 40 dinners and another 20 deserts. Excellent choices all. You can also choose different types of menu's. I did the diabetic only because it was the closest to Atkins and ANY carbs fucks me up. This diet seems to over about 1/2 to 3/4's the normal carbs in a diet so it is actually on the high end.

Food Taste-Wow. I am an Atkins freak and a long term devotee with incredible long term success that many people hate to hear about. Steak and chicken, eggs cheese, all things that taste awesome I got to eat with reckless abandon.
I will just say that I entered nutrisystem with a bit of fear, I was doing it more for her. She has a hard time if she feels she is being curbed and frankly the little lady puts it down like no one's business. She can eat likes I horse. So ya, I had some fear, I was wrong. That food is amazing. Each time I eat something I sound like a fucking record to my girlfriend. "Damn this is good", "Damn that is good", "this is amazing" blah blah blah. I heard they actually had real cooks check the recipes for the meals. I believe them now.

End Results-My girlfriend. She is now 131 for a total of around 14 pounds with 0 hunger and 0 energy loss and man has it done wonders for her attitude and just general well being. Most of that revolves around NOT feeling cheated at all and a good amount of excercise. She is right around where the max weight lose per week hints she should be.
Me- I have lost 22 pounds. After intense testing this is about 3 pounds water(I retain it pretty easily) for a good 19 pounds. So maybe 5 pounds a week. Now I will say this. I work out 2 hours a day, I sleep maybe 5 hours a day and I work at a job that has me constantly going so Atkins with its slower releasing energy sources was always a good choice. However, I will probably never drop nutrisystem. The food is amazing, the results are amazing and the fucking food is amazing...oh wait I said that already. Again I did the lower glycemic index diet for less carbs so I feel fuller longer but man. I feel wonderful and ya I probably didn't even need to lose the weight but I am in damn near comp form right now and have not adjusted my workouts at all. But I feel amazing.

Problems encountered: All my stats, blood pressure, good and bad cholesterol, weight, energy level, skin(A good sign if you are getting the proper nutrition) and so forth are awesome. Borderline perfect and are only that way due to Atkins(I had horrible trouble before the diet and if I broke it for periods of time) I do worry that I will lose that.
But that right now is a fear not a reality but I figured I would just put it out there. Being in better physical shape is great but if my stats(the true indicator of many health aspects) begin to slide then I may have to go back.

[Everyone vs Dinosaurs]

Wow, sounds like you and your girlfriend kicked some serious ass Karak.

Hope it continues!

[Typical Michael]

I am sitting at 151, which is 36lbs from where I was back in August. Thats pretty cool, and now I am talkin to this girl who is studying to be a nutritionist, and she comes over almost every night and makes me really good healthy food. Life's going well.

[Karak]

Wow, sounds like you and your girlfriend kicked some serious ass Karak.

Hope it continues!

Thanks.
I will stick to it just because it tastes good and is easy. Havent had any of the abnormal reactions I normally have to carbs yet. We will see.
I am so stoked it is cheap and tastes good. Those were my two big fears. Tonight I am going to go for my first run for the year, gonna take it easy and do 8 miles and we will see how much energy I have due to the lower calorie limits.

[Xerxes]

I am sitting at 151, which is 36lbs from where I was back in August. Thats pretty cool, and now I am talkin to this girl who is studying to be a nutritionist, and she comes over almost every night and makes me really good healthy food. Life's going well.

That shit ain't Typical! :confused:

[TheEvilNarwhale]

Woo. I finally hit 200. Bringing my total loss since may to 55 lb.

[Jackel]

Had my first workout again in 3 months. Hopefully I'll start picking up the routine again as it felt really good.

[ElektroDragon]

Woo. I finally hit 200. Bringing my total loss since may to 55 lb.

Wow! Nice! My total loss since May has been to go from 245 to 215. I feel SO much better now! All I really did was watch my sugar intake. I need to get rid of the extra 15 and I'll be happy. But it's so hard... and I'm so lazy.... :(

[TheEvilNarwhale]

Wow! Nice! My total loss since May has been to go from 245 to 215. I feel SO much better now! All I really did was watch my sugar intake. I need to get rid of the extra 15 and I'll be happy. But it's so hard... and I'm so lazy.... :(

I watched what I ate and ride my bike everywhere. I feel a million times better than I did. It is quite a confidence boost.

[Xerxes]

I started doing 10 push ups before I watch a show. After my californication marathon, my arms are sore.

[Serapth]

I started doing 10 push ups before I watch a show. After my californication marathon, my arms are sore.

Switch to porn for an even better excercise.... not only do you get your pushups in, but a solid lower arm workout as well.


I just joined the YMCA ( no village people jokes, thank you very much! ). Was about the best gym / price combo, but damned gyms are expensive these days!

[Karak]

I started doing 10 push ups before I watch a show. After my californication marathon, my arms are sore.

My friend and I started a running joke that during loading screens on games we would do situps or pushups. That was during the Dreamcast days. We still do. I actually enjoy it.
Unless its a game like Fighting Force for the PS1. I swear that game had loading...loading screens that loaded so others could load.
I ended up pulling a tit during one playthrough:)

[Xerxes]

My friend and I started a running joke that during loading screens on games we would do situps or pushups. That was during the Dreamcast days. We still do. I actually enjoy it.
Unless its a game like Fighting Force for the PS1. I swear that game had loading...loading screens that loaded so others could load.
I ended up pulling a tit during one playthrough:)

Well I use to do it everytime I lose on like a fight game, sport game, and Wipeout. Skills go up as desire to play instead of push ups go down.

[JayVe]

I just met someone today I hadn't seen in around 5 years. The first thing they said to me was, "Wow! Looks like you lost 20 pounds!"

Damn. That feels good!

[Jackel]

I've finally started getting some momentum towards my goals. Been working out every other day this past week, and finally eating healthy.

[Purple Santa]

I just met someone today I hadn't seen in around 5 years. The first thing they said to me was, "Wow! Looks like you lost 20 pounds!"

Damn. That feels good!
It makes it all worthwhile when you know it's not only you who see and feel the difference but also how others see you physically now. Congrats on that. I like nothing better than when I see someone and they say...wow...you lost a lot of weight.
I've finally started getting some momentum towards my goals. Been working out every other day this past week, and finally eating healthy.
It's good you recognize you have that momentum. Sometimes we get mired down in measured results. It's a global perspective of how you are helping yourself. Keep up that momentum!

I've been back at the gym regularly for the last few weeks (almost a month) and finally made it back to my 6 days a week. I truly miss the routine if I don't go.

[Xerxes]

What's new? Figured this thread needed a kick.

[Karak]

What's new? Figured this thread needed a kick.

Wow you are right.
Well for me Nutrisystem basically rocked. I am now back down to fighting weight and not hungry and spending less. Amazing system.
I also maxed my bench press to 385:) Woo hooo.

[MachEnergy]

I haven't been updating here because I've been slacking in the gym department. :( I need to use my embarassment as motivation to go, rather than just avoiding this thread.

I managed to lose 15lbs just before my 2 month mark, and that was with a small amount of gym skipping. I'm now at almost 2 months of skipped gym days, and I really need to get back into it.

Not the best excuse, but I've had two seperate dental procedures where I'm told to not go to the gym for a week. So that's two weeks with a doctor's note :) Everything else was just me being lazy. I have since regained 5lbs, so my net loss sits around 10lbs.

[Typical Michael]

I bought the Iron Gym for $30 and do it 3 times a day, since I am more or less done losing weight, after 3 weeks of that I am really seeing some definition.

[H.Bogard]

I started out at around 190 lbs last october (6'1'' height), am at 167 lbs today. Yay!

[Church42]

I don't know my starting weight (probably was between 250-260) but as of today 3/23/09, I'm at 225!

Goal is to get right down around 210ish or so I believe.

I currently workout 4-5 days a week doing anywhere from a minumum of 30 minutes on a bike to 60 minutes on the bike. Then during the evening its arm curls, pushups, and typically 150 situps in 50 increment sets.

I can really tell the difference in my face & midsection.

[PathMaster]

Walking on average about 5 miles during work. I am still at my plateau, but now I think fat is being replaced by muscle, and not in the way I had hoped.

[Xerxes]

I think since January, I've lost about 10 pounds total. These last two months though I've been slacking hard. But I know I can and I plan to do better.

[STFUitsAutomatic]

Once again, I'd like to reply to something I just can't resist not to. I am 19 years of age, on the brink of 20, and I weigh 162 pounds. For most of my life, all I ever did was sit on my ass and rock out in front of the television and eat. By age 17 I was approaching 270 pounds. Then something spontaneous happened. It was summer time and I was working towards my eagle in the BSA program. We all decided to go up to Camp Woodruff in Georgia to earn some merit badges and have a good time. I, being born into a very poor family, really got tired of working at McDonalds and applied at the summer camp. I got accepted and stayed the remainder of the summer while my troop went back home to Florida. My place of duty was in the kitchen. I had to wash 3,000 plates, knives, spoons, and cups 3 times a day for 2 months in a steam filled room. When I finally got home, I had lost 20 pounds. You know what I felt? I had energy. I felt alive. And after 2 months of no television, I completely stopped watching it. I became more social. I went out more. I hate less food and lost an appetite for large amounts of sweets. Also, with my decreased weight, I was able to do a push up. Just one. But I worked at it for months. It went up to five. Then ten.

To this day, I do 100 push ups, 100 crunches, 100 squats, and 100 jumping jacks each night before bed. I have picked up some television and I still game regularly (if not compulsively), but I feel like I can do anything in the world now.

I wish the best of luck to all of you.

EDIT: Not an AFD joke. I rather despise this so called holiday.

[rein]

I bought the Iron Gym for $30 and do it 3 times a day, since I am more or less done losing weight, after 3 weeks of that I am really seeing some definition.

Do those things work? Well, it's pull ups so I am sure it works but is it comfortable to use? I've considered buying one but afraid I will smack my face into the door frame.

[Typical Michael]

Do those things work? Well, it's pull ups so I am sure it works but is it comfortable to use? I've considered buying one but afraid I will smack my face into the door frame.

Yeah its not a problem, they are good for pull-ups, push-ups, and all sorts of other exercises. I for one have a love/hate relationship with dead-hangs. If you use it a lot though, you will develop calluses on your hands.

[OldeWolf]

A little mini-update:
Went down from 209 pounds to 194-195 pounds and still dropping fat weights (all this is mostly from changing from junk food to all healthy fruit, veggies, white meat, etc diet).

[Serapth]

Yeah its not a problem, they are good for pull-ups, push-ups, and all sorts of other exercises. I for one have a love/hate relationship with dead-hangs. If you use it a lot though, you will develop calluses on your hands.

I've looked at those too. How much strain do they put on your door jam? If there is no trim ( just drywall ), will they cause a dent?

[Typical Michael]

You would need a trim, thats pretty much how its held up. And even then, if you are doing deadhangs or really mean business with your pullups, it puts a groove in your trim.

[Serapth]

You would need a trim, thats pretty much how its held up. And even then, if you are doing deadhangs or really mean business with your pullups, it puts a groove in your trim.

Kinda figured as much. So, its a nice device if you are a renter... :)


Thanks for the info.

[rein]

You would need a trim, thats pretty much how its held up. And even then, if you are doing deadhangs or really mean business with your pullups, it puts a groove in your trim.

That kind of sucks but hell, it's my house and I can do what I want. I would have never been able to do somethng like that with the ex. She made me get rid of my arcade cabinets and pinball machine becaue they "junked" up the house. Even though they had their own room and were fully functional.

I'm not sure how much damge my 140 lbs will do to the trim but I can always replace it if need be.

Thanks for the info. I'm probably going to pick one of these up on the way home tonight.

[EvoG]

Iron Gym really NEEDS to advertise that you need not only trim but a STRONG trim. I have original 100 year old ornate wood door frames...I'll stop you there...why would I even attempt it? Well I expected its shape(fulcrum location) and rubber grips to allow for your body weight to apply leverage and this 'pin' the shit to the wall, reducing or removing stress on the trim. Alas it slides right down...

...all in all while I loved the idea of being able to do pull ups outside of the gym, its back to bent-over rows when at home.

Btw I didn't participate in this thread (I don't think) but having not been actively dieting, I'm down 13 lbs from 194. I'm 9 lbs away from my 'beach body', between 6 - 8% body-fat. This is significant only because I've been drinking MORE and daily. The biggest victory has been being able to tell myself I'm 'satisfied' rather than waiting to be 'full' and now my portions per meal are tiny but I'm eating whatever and I'm not left wanting.

So:


Portion Control
2 - 4 Heineken Light's a night avg.
No Sugars
Simple Carbs are in but portion control has made it a non-issue
Workouts of late (being cold out still) have been entirely arms/shoulders with heavy dumbbells (e.g. 30 lbs curls for warm, 50's for sets). No mass building movements (bench/lats/legs) as I save those for the gym


13 lbs in 1 month.

[Karak]

395 bench
270 Leg extension good times.
Matter of fact the rest of life is kicking my ass but weight loss and building muscle is going well.

Nutrisystem is the shit man. Awesome for weight loss. Had to up the calories on work out days oviously and the next morning to make sure I have the fuel to make muscle but man its working well.

[PathMaster]

Looks like I am finally coming off my plateau. Averaging 5-6 miles of walking while at work and burning at least 500 calories while doing it. Now I just need to add some other workouts or exercise to my current lineup to help things out.

[Typical Michael]

I stopped smoking tuesday night, I am real afraid of gaining weight...ill just have to tighten my resolve.

[Jackel]

Quick update on my situation.

Having stopped going for a while, I jumped up to 225. But since last week I've hiked a few miles uphill on a local trail (had to stop b/c the snow got too fast).

and been going to the gym every other day.

I've also solved my motivation (i know..i said that before..but this time its true) problem. I've got a workout buddy now which really helps keep me focused and making sure I don't bail out on the gym because I'm tired.

We also hope to continue doing those hikes every saturday, which should be great for dropping the added weight.

[OldeWolf]

Update for me:

Went from 209 pounds all the way down to 188 pounds. Gaining muscles nicely in a buffed up fashion.

Only problem is this, I need to find a way to get rid of my "baby" fat on my stomach before June 14 (3 weeks from now).

Any advice?

What I have is my own home gym inside my apartment with my own weight bench and weights. Also have a mountain bike.

Hope someone has some stomach fat trimming workout ideas for me to use so i can finally see my abs! *crosses fingers and toes*

[Bone]

You can't target fat. You can only lose fat from your body as a whole. Keep at it.

My wife and I joined a gym and started riding our bikes. I haven't lost any weight- maintaining at 189-192, but my BMI is dropping as my muscle and bone percentages climb (we have one of those scales that you use with wet feet and it does some electrical resistance calculations).

Most importantly, for the last 3-4 weeks I have felt fucking great. At week two I passed the hump where working out was no longer a chore, and I look forward to it. Our weekend bike rides are getting longer, over 10 miles, and sometimes we ride twice a day just because we're bored and need more adrenaline! Good stuff.

[OldeWolf]

The stomach area is pretty much the last fatty area left on the body. It's also the "baby fat" that I had a hard time removing in high school during intense wrestling practices even while I was 155 freshman year to 189 senior year, tall and lean with still that pesky baby fat on my stomach.

I don't really care of my body increases in muscle weight to be honest. Just want to see my abs for the first time. I'm slowly seeing it now that my stomach is more flat than it has been in about 10 years.

Guess you're right, gotta keep at it.

[Serapth]

The stomach area is pretty much the last fatty area left on the body. It's also the "baby fat" that I had a hard time removing in high school during intense wrestling practices even while I was 155 freshman year to 189 senior year, tall and lean with still that pesky baby fat on my stomach.

I don't really care of my body increases in muscle weight to be honest. Just want to see my abs for the first time. I'm slowly seeing it now that my stomach is more flat than it has been in about 10 years.

Guess you're right, gotta keep at it.

Actually the weight I am having the hardest time losing is the small bit under the chin. When I lean down it looks like I have two chins, and even though I have lost pretty good weight, I still seem to have a little bit in my neck.

Irritating. Not like you can do neck pushups....

[Bone]

Yeah from what I hear, stomach fat and manboobs are the hardest chunks of fat to work off. Sucks for me too.

[Kelegacy]

Actually the weight I am having the hardest time losing is the small bit under the chin. When I lean down it looks like I have two chins, and even though I have lost pretty good weight, I still seem to have a little bit in my neck.

Irritating. Not like you can do neck pushups....

Actually, there are facial exercises you can do. I'm in the same boat--I have fat under the chin. I have a weak chin to begin with (which wasn't apparent until I gained some weight in college) so it's even worse. But apparently there are exercises you can do, silly little things that may help the face and chin areas.

When I lost 50 lbs in 2006, I shaved my goatee off and it still looked absurd. Some of the chin went away, but a lot was still there. I never tried those face exercises, however. To this day I wear a goatee to hide my chin(s). But I think if I can get back down to 160 or lower I'll shave and just learn to get used to it. I hate having facial hair but I keep it because it acts as a shroud.

[bapenguin]

I recently started this up again and began exercising 5 days a week.

So far, no weight loss - but my legs are fucking tree trunks. Totally solid. Hopefully soon the weight starts to go.

[JRR1285]

Not too long ago I began doing some mild cardio, maybe about 2 months ago. Fast forward about a month and I had a Bow Flex delivered to my house. I started close to 260 and I am now down to 228. Being that I am 6' 1" or so I don't see myself getting much below 210 or thereabouts.

At the same time I pretty much completely eliminated fast food from my diet and went from drinking almost exclusively soda every day to just water and an occasional Gatorade/life water if I want flavor. Hardest part is I work in a damn Pizzeria 5 days a week all day.

I feel insanely better and I am past that part where it was hard to stick to my desired routine. People I work with have been noticing and some say I just look plain skinny, I always carried my weight pretty well due to my build. It's all just looking up from here. The only side effects are that I do almost no posting here and I practically don't play games anymore. Somethings gotta give.:p

[Bone]

Actually, there are facial exercises you can do. I'm in the same boat--I have fat under the chin. I have a weak chin to begin with (which wasn't apparent until I gained some weight in college) so it's even worse. But apparently there are exercises you can do, silly little things that may help the face and chin areas.

When I lost 50 lbs in 2006, I shaved my goatee off and it still looked absurd. Some of the chin went away, but a lot was still there. I never tried those face exercises, however. To this day I wear a goatee to hide my chin(s). But I think if I can get back down to 160 or lower I'll shave and just learn to get used to it. I hate having facial hair but I keep it because it acts as a shroud.

That's weird, the face is where I lose weight from first. I go from "dead and bloated" to my band's singer complimenting my cheekbones in about two weeks, while the rest of me looks the same. Well, we all do lose fat from different places first I guess.

[Inspector Fowler]

I'm down about 30-33 lbs but I seem stalled out. I started at 272 lbs and I just started eating a pretty strict 2,000 calories a day. The weight started coming off.

But as soon as I start any kind of exercise it's like my body goes into famine mode and retains the weight again. I am drinking tons of water and I haven't had a soda in months (diet aside).

So I am now hovering around 240 and even with careful eating I don't really lose any more weight unless I stop exercising. Sigh. I don't want to lower my daily calorie intake much more than I have, because by the time I got to my target weight/body fat (probably somewhere in the 180 lb range) I would be eating so few calories that to eat "normally" again would virtually guarantee that I'd gain the weight back.

Double sigh.

[Serapth]

I'm down about 30-33 lbs but I seem stalled out. I started at 272 lbs and I just started eating a pretty strict 2,000 calories a day. The weight started coming off.

But as soon as I start any kind of exercise it's like my body goes into famine mode and retains the weight again. I am drinking tons of water and I haven't had a soda in months (diet aside).

So I am now hovering around 240 and even with careful eating I don't really lose any more weight unless I stop exercising. Sigh. I don't want to lower my daily calorie intake much more than I have, because by the time I got to my target weight/body fat (probably somewhere in the 180 lb range) I would be eating so few calories that to eat "normally" again would virtually guarantee that I'd gain the weight back.

Double sigh.

It really does seem your body has checkpoint weights it likes to stay at. I found I could rapidly lose 10 lbs, then nothing for months, then it will move again. It seems my body really wants me to be 210....

[Inspector Fowler]

It really does seem your body has checkpoint weights it likes to stay at. I found I could rapidly lose 10 lbs, then nothing for months, then it will move again. It seems my body really wants me to be 210....

I just don't know what to do. Obviously you only lose weight if you burn more calories than you eat. But seriously, if I weigh 240 lbs and I'm only eating 2,000 calories a day, how many will I be eating at 180 lbs? 1,100? 1,000? Fewer?

I just don't understand how eating right and biking 16 miles over nasty hills to work isn't increasing my metabolism. It's pretty depressing.

[Kelegacy]

Depending on your exercise, you may need more calories...but I seriously doubt that. If the exercise isn't that strenuous, you can try lowering your caloric intake slightly. You need 1200 calories per day for normal bodily functions (if you're completely sedentary). Lower than that and you will go into starvation mode. Alternatively, if you exercise hard you'll need much more than that. How much do you think you're burning per day? 2000 calories assumes a fairly active lifestyle.

I was pretty sedentary a few years back post-college and dropped my caloric intake to 1250 or 1300. That was with little exercise, just walking while on my breaks at work. I dropped 1-2 lbs per week, which is healthy. When summer came around I upped the intake because I am much more active in the summer. I kept the weight off for a long time. I could easily have kept it off with little maintanance but my lifestyle changed with the addition of a live-in girlfriend (fabulous cook) and a baby on the way. Essentially, I became too comfortable. But dropping my calories was the best weight-loss method I've ever found, as long as you honestly count every single calorie you eat.

After the baby comes, I hope to drop my caloric intake again. I'm 224 right now, and I'll drop to probably 1300-1400. I try to eat about 400 calories per meal, with snacks thrown in to make up the remainder. And nothing but water. But that's without any sort of strenuous exercise. It's hard for the first couple weeks because my stomach is so stretched out from binge eating (I have portion control issues). Once I am on a lower calorie diet, I find that if I do splurge on pizza or a burger (once per week I reward myself), I cannot eat remotely as much because the stomach as shrunk down to a more normal size. I get full faster.

Remember, they're still studying the affects of artificial sweetners on body weight. Some have said that artificial sweetners can make you gain weight, even moreso than sugar. The best option is just to stick with water almost exclusively. Diet sodas, for some people, can sabotage you.

Maybe I'll start my diet today. Might as well. But we're having tacos for dinner.... :(

[Serapth]

I just don't know what to do. Obviously you only lose weight if you burn more calories than you eat. But seriously, if I weigh 240 lbs and I'm only eating 2,000 calories a day, how many will I be eating at 180 lbs? 1,100? 1,000? Fewer?

I just don't understand how eating right and biking 16 miles over nasty hills to work isn't increasing my metabolism. It's pretty depressing.

Personally I would suggest eating more or less normal again for a couple weeks, maybe two. Not eating to excess, just your normal daily caloric intake ( you are probably allotted around 2800-3000 calories at your weight ) and stick to drinking water and exercising. After about two weeks go back to a reduced diet.

I honestly think your body enters "ok this is normal mode", which results in reduced weight loss. That said, I am just going from my own experience. I know when my weight gets "stuck" a chance ( up or down ) in my diet is the biggest factor.

[Bone]

I have heard that you need to vary your exercise routine if you get stuck. If you're doing lots of cardio, switch to weights for awhile, or vice versa.

[Karak]

I just don't know what to do. Obviously you only lose weight if you burn more calories than you eat. But seriously, if I weigh 240 lbs and I'm only eating 2,000 calories a day, how many will I be eating at 180 lbs? 1,100? 1,000? Fewer?

I just don't understand how eating right and biking 16 miles over nasty hills to work isn't increasing my metabolism. It's pretty depressing.

A recent study just indicated sleep as the #1 factor to look at if diet and workouts are correct.
I think that may be right. I seem to have issues if I get less than 4. The only problem is I am zonked with anything more than 4.
With more than 4 I look better and less tired.
With around 4 I feel amazing but look like shit.
I have tried for years to get a good middle ground and could not.

Just a thought.

Wow I just saw your 16 miles biking comment. You may try to put on more muscle. At that rate unless you are eating while on the bike you WILL get muscle burnoff. That will in the long run lower your motabo especially if you are doing it often.
The thing that has been working for me is only 7-10 minutes of intense cardio 2-3 times a day and with at least 1 hour between. It's hard but it works and splits up the workout.

[Inspector Fowler]

I am naturally quite "thick" in the muscles department. If I lost this fat I would actually have a really nice build. I have noticed some muscle loss despite the fact that I also lift 3 times a week or so.

The one thing I do get is good sleep, because my schedule does allow for that - I come home exhausted pretty frequently, and at 0330 there isn't much to do but catch some rest. It's rare that I get less than 7 hours of sleep.

It also may be that since the biking only started when the weather got warm, I'm still building muscle - when I bike a lot I get gigantic thighs - I don't look like a typical biker. I shouldn't get so depressed - my Kevlar fits better and I almost need a new duty belt. But even so - stepping on the scale and seeing the same numbers for a while gets you down.

[Karak]

I am naturally quite "thick" in the muscles department. If I lost this fat I would actually have a really nice build. I have noticed some muscle loss despite the fact that I also lift 3 times a week or so.

The one thing I do get is good sleep, because my schedule does allow for that - I come home exhausted pretty frequently, and at 0330 there isn't much to do but catch some rest. It's rare that I get less than 7 hours of sleep.

It also may be that since the biking only started when the weather got warm, I'm still building muscle - when I bike a lot I get gigantic thighs - I don't look like a typical biker. I shouldn't get so depressed - my Kevlar fits better and I almost need a new duty belt. But even so - stepping on the scale and seeing the same numbers for a while gets you down.
To ignore the scale is so damn hard isn't it.
Well it is how the clothes fit that matters and how you look. The scale for me is a damned nightmare. There are times where I weighed 290 and looked like I weighed 230 and that shit is HARD to ignore.
I will say one thing. There is good scientific support for people who work alternate shifts having more issues with weight and such.

[Xerxes]

Man I was doing good a few months ago and now I've went all kinds of ways of the course.

[OldeWolf]

What are the ways that can cause me to lose muscle mass despite working out 2-3 times a week? I forgot those kinds of info since High school.

[pronounconnoun]

What are the ways that can cause me to lose muscle mass despite working out 2-3 times a week? I forgot those kinds of info since High school.

Not eating enough. Seriously. When I was in high school, I weight trained like an Olympic athlete, but lost muscle mass instead of gaining it. It turns out that I was eating like I weighed 160, but I should have been eating like i weighed 200. Didn't know this.

[Serapth]

What are the ways that can cause me to lose muscle mass despite working out 2-3 times a week? I forgot those kinds of info since High school.

Well you may have pissed off a Voodoun who had Papa Ghede put a wasting curse on you.


It's not very likely, but I can think of two possible suspects that frequent this forum!

[Alatheia]

Yeah from what I hear, stomach fat and manboobs are the hardest chunks of fat to work off. Sucks for me too.

Really? With women I've noticed that boobs are the third thing to go away... hands/feet then boobs :confused:

[benson]

A couple quick things about caloric intake and plateaus. First, I hear that for weight loss, your caloric intake should be 10x your current weight. If you weight 200 pounds, you should be eating 2000 calories a day to lose weight healthily. You can cut it down a little more for faster or more extreme weight loss (8x or so), but 10x is the recommended amount. To maintain your weight, you should be eating 15x your weight in calories.

As to plateaus, a couple things can help you get around them. Vary your exercises as your body may be getting used to what you are doing. And a suggestion that sounds odd is to eat more. My girlfriend had plateaued at one point, and was told she needed to eat more or exercise less. She started to eat more and she picked right back up losing weight. I know it sounds odd, but it works.

Below is a quote about the caloric intake stuff:
Determining your daily calorie requirements is usually so confusing that sometimes you feel you need a background in biochemistry to fully understand the damn formulas. Well, I’ve picked up a simple and extremely uncomplicated way to determine how many calories you need to consume to stay at your present weight and how much you should eat to lose weight thanks to tips from the bodybuilder and strength & conditioning communities. First, keep in mind that this is not an exact science and that these are estimates, but they are reliable enough that athletes use them as a guide for their training. So, to get an idea of how many calories per day you need to eat to stay at your current weight, multiply your bodyweight times 15. To lose weight, you want to multiply your current weight times 8 -12. For most folks starting off, go with 10 or 12. Reserve the lower number when you’re going for your six pack!Let’s look at the example of a guy who weighs 300lbs. Well, to lose weight, he needs to consume no more than 3000 cals (BW x 10 = 3000) a day. He’ll stay with this number until he loses 20lbs, and then he’ll go back and reformulate his calorie needs, which will now be 2800 cals a day. Next, he’ll be eating 2600 cals after losing 20 more pounds. You see how simple this is?

[H.Bogard]

Fucking hell. The last two (lower) of the six packs are a nightmare to bring out
FUCK! I'm busting my back doing leg raises while hanging from a bar every day. Its depressing. :(

[Kelegacy]

Benson, I think the 10x thing is to maintain your weight, not lose...but I may be wrong. So, 3000 calories a day to maintain 300 lbs-ish, etc. That's probably without any exercise, or just moderate activity.

But then again, if I drop to 1300 calories, I doubt I'll wind up being 130 lbs because of my frame/height. I did drop to 159 lbs a few years back while maintaining a 1300 calorie diet and could have gone further, but I was in my range so I stopped. It all depends on height and frame, too.

[Xerxes]

Fucking hell. The last two (lower) of the six packs are a nightmare to bring out
FUCK! I'm busting my back doing leg raises while hanging from a bar every day. Its depressing. :(

Don't look at it is hard. It's a pleasure to work out. I don't know why, but if I can change my mindset and focus on the workout, I get more from it. When you set there looking at the clock or focusing on the ipod play list, or even counting, just seems like the body isn't working it's best. At least for me. This is based on the heart rate monitor and the calorie burning monitor.

[bapenguin]

Has anyone tried Nutrisystem? After 4 weeks of eating better (between 2000 and 2400 calories a day) and working out 5 times a week for at least 20 minutes or more (averaging about 250-300 calories burned on an eliptical) plus free weights.... I've gained 4 pounds.

Blah.

[Kelegacy]

Has anyone tried Nutrisystem? After 4 weeks of eating better (between 2000 and 2400 calories a day) and working out 5 times a week for at least 20 minutes or more (averaging about 250-300 calories burned on an eliptical) plus free weights.... I've gained 4 pounds.

Blah.

Heh. Talk about discouraging. You should be getting RID of that pregnancy fat, not packing it on still! :)

Are you willing to try lowering your caloric intake even more? I say drop it to about 1500-1800 calories.

The problem is usually not getting enough calories or too many. It's hard to find that perfect balance, but keep tweaking until you stumble upon your sweet spot!

I have wanted to do Nutrisystem but instead I just stick to the Lean Cuisines or Smart Ones for lunch (usually one with 2 servings of veggies if I can find them), with a yogurt and sometimes a piece of fruit. That's my standard lunch and has been for years, on diet or off. When I'm dieting I usually eat something similar for supper (another lean microwaveable meal or make something super low in calories) and 3 nutrigrain bars for breakfast.

I also need to cut out artificial sweeteners from my diet. Has anyone ever tried Stevia, or whatever it's called? It's natural. The artificial stuff can make you gain weight, which is ironic.

[PathMaster]

Still at or around 240, despite walking at least 7 miles a day. Hell this past Sunday, I walked over 12 miles at work alone. According to my pedometer, that worked out to be about 1500 calories or so. I am losing size, but muscle gain is keeping my weight steady.

[Skull3r]

This thread seems not hot have any action recently, so I thought I'd revive it up a bit. Motivation is key for losing weight, and we can all help each other out in that department.


Early May 2009: 191 lbs
Current Weight June 23 2009: 177 lbs
Goal Weight for the end of Summer: 165 lbs w/ less gut.
To put a body image in your guys mind's, I'm 5'11". Not too big, but not where I want to be. I was a rower in high school (just three years ago), and want to get back in at least some sort of fit shape.

I'm doing the p90x program in early afternoons, cardio (jogging/walking) in the mornings), and finally eating right for the first time in my life since I was training in high school.

Key things I learned:
- Its really easy to get dehydrated when you're working out/ trying to lose weight. I actually had to go see a doctor because I was just so fatigued and sleeping 9+ hours a day. Turns out, I was severely dehydrated. 6-8 glasses no joke, at least, straight up H20.
- Don't starve yourself, your body ends up retaining everything and the whole point is moot. Do the proper calculations for your calorie intake to lose weight. Mine is ending up being 1800 calories, so 6 x 300 cal eatings a day.
- whey protein is good, so are vitamins, soda is bad.

[Nameless]

Yeah, I fell off the wagon when my semester ended. I'm trying to get back on, but the full-time job and the 3-hour commute is cutting into my workout time. If I want to get enough rest, that leaves me 5 hours a day. I've been trying to walk more, and the goal is to cut out soda entirely once my summer class starts. I'm going to try to do Wii Fit 30 minutes a day on top of other exercise (BJJ twice a week, Ultimate on Sundays). I've got a long ways to go, but a journey of 1,000 miles begins with a single step, right?

[Karak]

Has anyone tried Nutrisystem? After 4 weeks of eating better (between 2000 and 2400 calories a day) and working out 5 times a week for at least 20 minutes or more (averaging about 250-300 calories burned on an eliptical) plus free weights.... I've gained 4 pounds.

Blah.
I am not sure your joking or not. How did you POSSIBLY get that many calories in Nutrisystem? I am still doing it and losing a ton of weight well actually I am just cutting for a tourny but still. See all my other posts on it.
Something is WAY wrong with that amount of calories incoming.

[PathMaster]

I am losing weight, but not at the rate I expected. According to my pedometer I am burning around 600 calories a day at least (average six miles at work). Most days I do not get a chance to eat lunch, and some days I only eat dinner, yet here I am barely losing. I can only assume that my muscle is increasing faster then the fat is going bye-bye.

Any ideas on how I can target or at least increase the caloric burn?

[Karak]

I am losing weight, but not at the rate I expected. According to my pedometer I am burning around 600 calories a day at least (average six miles at work). Most days I do not get a chance to eat lunch, and some days I only eat dinner, yet here I am barely losing. I can only assume that my muscle is increasing faster then the fat is going bye-bye.

Any ideas on how I can target or at least increase the caloric burn?

600 would of course be less than 1 pound a week.
Either increase the times walking, increase the amount walking or cut calories and do it.
But eat at least 3 meals. Even if its just a bit of something. I know that when I can not get a good meal I have a bit of cheese. This is a good signal to the body that you are still getting food and it will keep the burn rate high.

[Restlessavenger]

Any ideas on how I can target or at least increase the caloric burn?

I would agree with those suggesting eating more than you currently are to keep your metabolism out of starvation mode...
about 5 weeks ago I started a fairly regular habit of trying to eat something every 3 or so waking hours.
A Nutrigain bar for breakfast, a light yogurt (the Yoplait light flavors are AMAZING) a couple hours later, Lean Cuisine meal for lunch (they really are suprisingly good too). In the afternoon I have a piece of fruit or one of those hundred calorie snacks in the afternoon, then another Lean Cuisine meal for dinner, add a sugar free pudding, some fruit, or one of those yummy Weight Watchers ice creams cups for desert, (about 1200-1400 calories a day in total) and a shit ton of water.
In the course of that time I have gone from 243 down to 222, which has been pretty amazing. I've started to reach a plateau at this point and have added in 20-40 minutes on a stationary bike.
Also like people have said cut out the soda as it really is just a bunch of wasted calories.

[Karak]

I am losing weight, but not at the rate I expected. According to my pedometer I am burning around 600 calories a day at least (average six miles at work). Most days I do not get a chance to eat lunch, and some days I only eat dinner, yet here I am barely losing. I can only assume that my muscle is increasing faster then the fat is going bye-bye.

Any ideas on how I can target or at least increase the caloric burn?

One more thing that I hear so many people have good luck with lately is for every 100 calories you wait an hour to eat your next meal.
So if you eat a 300 calories breakfast you wait for 3 hours until lunch. If you have a 200 calorie lunch you wait 2 hours and then eat something else. I have 3 students on it and my girlfriends sister has been losing steady weight. It also allows for a huge amount of small meals or large ones if you need. It works well.
The cool thing is if you eat 800 calories in the morning and wait 8 hours(not the best deal) you still would only get 1600 for the day which would put you slightly over starvation but also be a lean amount.(again I am not saying that kind of plan would be good.). But many small ones would rock 200-300 calorie meals with a good 600 calorie dinner is pretty ideal.

[PathMaster]

Good ideas. Kind of hard to eat small meals with the job I have, but I will figure out something.

[bapenguin]

So finally after about 2 months of exercise, I'm starting to see some payoff.

I'm down almost 10 pounds and I'm finally starting to feel in "shape."

Now I just need to get some other health problems under control. My goal is to be down another 10 pounds by PAX in 8 weeks.

[Inspector Fowler]

One more thing that I hear so many people have good luck with lately is for every 100 calories you wait an hour to eat your next meal.

After 4.5 months of eating much better (and losing over 40 lbs so far) I would say that this is pretty accurate for how hungry I usually feel. The one exception is that I try not to go more than 3 hours in between snacks unless I am "saving up" for dinner or something. I'll often eat 400 calories for lunch and then, about 3 hours later I'll just eat a Nutri-grain bar (120-130 calories) to keep from getting too hungry.

Part of that for me is that I have noticed that if my blood sugar gets very low I have tremendous trouble concentrating, and it's disarming.

[Karak]

After 4.5 months of eating much better (and losing over 40 lbs so far) I would say that this is pretty accurate for how hungry I usually feel. The one exception is that I try not to go more than 3 hours in between snacks unless I am "saving up" for dinner or something. I'll often eat 400 calories for lunch and then, about 3 hours later I'll just eat a Nutri-grain bar (120-130 calories) to keep from getting too hungry.

Part of that for me is that I have noticed that if my blood sugar gets very low I have tremendous trouble concentrating, and it's disarming.

Yes basically this takes a bit of science into it as well as balancing a good amount of calories with your normal motabolismn. I know a lot of music types, models and a couple others who need to stay slim have been doing it.

Good for you sir.

[diablopath]

I'm pretty incompetent at losing weight, but I've been doing a few things recently that have helped to improve my health.

I've almost entirely given up soda. I've faultered once or twice, mostly while in a restaraunt or or tagging along with friends to fast food, but I've pretty much been sticking to water. I haven't really changed my eating habits too much, though I've started eating less than what I did.

The switch to water was far easier than I thought it was. I scoffed at it before because I just thought the meal wouldn't taste as good when I removed coke and used water instead. Infact, I hardly notice a difference. And I just feel better drinking water, now.

I've also been doing 100 push-ups (4 sets of 25 spaced about 10-15 minutes apart, usually) and running as much as I can (which isn't much :/).
If anything, it's been a great way to relieve stress.

[Karak]

I'm pretty incompetent at losing weight, but I've been doing a few things recently that have helped to improve my health.

I've almost entirely given up soda. I've faultered once or twice, mostly while in a restaraunt or or tagging along with friends to fast food, but I've pretty much been sticking to water. I haven't really changed my eating habits too much, though I've started eating less than what I did.

The switch to water was far easier than I thought it was. I scoffed at it before because I just thought the meal wouldn't taste as good when I removed coke and used water instead. Infact, I hardly notice a difference. And I just feel better drinking water, now.

I've also been doing 100 push-ups (4 sets of 25 spaced about 10-15 minutes apart, usually) and running as much as I can (which isn't much :/).
If anything, it's been a great way to relieve stress.

Ya soda is such an empty calorie booster:) Thank god I love diet. I would die if I drank normal soda that much.
Good for you and the push-ups. If you read my posts early. Try adding 1 to one or two of the sets each day. You will be blown away with how many you can do in a short time.

[Inspector Fowler]

I do 25 pushups every time I get killed in America's Army 3.

At this rate I expect to have North America's largest chest in about 3 months.

[Xerxes]

Can you cut your calories too low? I was at about 2100 a day with junk. Down from probably 3000 after I gave up soda and fraps this year. Past week or soo I eliminated most take out, namely places with drive thru, and trying to control portions. Doing stuff like cutting my lunch up in half before eating it and getting the other half boxed. There is also the cutting off of fat on meat, soaking up grease with napkins. I've also boosted up the snaking so I don't come home at midnight trying to stuff my starved face.

Anyways the food logger I've been using says I'm at 1500 calories a day the past for days. The GoWear Fitness(body bugg clone) says I've burned 3800 calories the same days. I'm like 340 pounds so burning I guess is easy for me but I'm like the difference seems high. I mean I feel fine so I guess it's cool to eat less.

How many rest days do you need a week?

[Loki]

Can you cut your calories too low? I was at about 2100 a day with junk. Down from probably 3000 after I gave up soda and fraps this year. Past week or soo I eliminated most take out, namely places with drive thru, and trying to control portions. Doing stuff like cutting my lunch up in half before eating it and getting the other half boxed. There is also the cutting off of fat on meat, soaking up grease with napkins. I've also boosted up the snaking so I don't come home at midnight trying to stuff my starved face.

Anyways the food logger I've been using says I'm at 1500 calories a day the past for days. The GoWear Fitness(body bugg clone) says I've burned 3800 calories the same days. I'm like 340 pounds so burning I guess is easy for me but I'm like the difference seems high. I mean I feel fine so I guess it's cool to eat less.

How many rest days do you need a week?

Stick with 2000-2100 per day eaten per day. Standard diet dictates about 2500-2800 to maintain body weight. There is the urban myth of the 'starvation mode' but this doesn't go into effect unless you cut out more than 60% of your daily intake; but has no bearing on how much you burn. Also, please keep in mind that the majority of weight loss is diet. Exercise helps but a cut in intake has a much bigger impact unless you do extreme cardio every day (500+ calories burned per time).

[Xerxes]

Stick with 2000-2100 per day eaten per day. Standard diet dictates about 2500-2800 to maintain body weight. There is the urban myth of the 'starvation mode' but this doesn't go into effect unless you cut out more than 60% of your daily intake; but has no bearing on how much you burn. Also, please keep in mind that the majority of weight loss is diet. Exercise helps but a cut in intake has a much bigger impact unless you do extreme cardio every day (500+ calories burned per time).

Eating stuff like carrot sticks and celery, is just wow. It drops the calorie intake on what I normally would snack on and cut it in like a fourth,

[Nameless]

Check out this site (http://www.wikihow.com/Calculate-How-Many-Calories-You-Need-to-Eat-to-Lose-Weight) for a good formula to plug your size/weight/etc. in to get an idea how many calories you should eat in a day.

Basically, if you're big enough (like you & I are), you should drop about 1000 calories from your maintenance level, and you'll lose 2 lbs. per week. Make sure you adjust for the amount of exercise you do in the week (#2 in the list given at that site).

NEVER eat below 1500 calories per day, as that could potentially be dangerous, causing your body to shut down.

[Xerxes]

Check out this site (http://www.wikihow.com/Calculate-How-Many-Calories-You-Need-to-Eat-to-Lose-Weight) for a good formula to plug your size/weight/etc. in to get an idea how many calories you should eat in a day.

Basically, if you're big enough (like you & I are), you should drop about 1000 calories from your maintenance level, and you'll lose 2 lbs. per week. Make sure you adjust for the amount of exercise you do in the week (#2 in the list given at that site).

NEVER eat below 1500 calories per day, as that could potentially be dangerous, causing your body to shut down.

See that's what I was afraid of. I think the problem was lunch. I basically snacked through lunch instead of eating a "meal."

[EternalGamer]

I've lost 15 pounds in the last month and a half. My goal is to lose 15 more, that will put me back to my ideal pre-college weight. I'm currently at 160 lbs and want to get down to 145 lbs.

This is what I've been doing so far:

1) No Alcohol for over a month.

2) I only eat meat a maximum of two meals a week.

3) I generally eat a big lunch of whatever I want (besides meat) and that is about it for the day. I might have a light snack in the afternoon or evening. (This is just much more convenient for me than a bunch of smaller meals, and it gives me incentive to look forward to a no holds barred lunch each day). However, I mostly stay away from the fried foods at lunch. It's usually soup, salad, and bread, or vegetarian sandwich or burrito.

4) I jog 3 miles a day + do additional work outs for at least a half hour (currently using EA Sports Active and Wii Punch Out with resistance bands). Total calorie burn of at least 700 calories a day (according to the combination of the treadmill + EA Active, Punch Out, obviously, doesn't keep track of calories).

So far it's working out well for me. I'm especially enjoying using Punch Out with the balance board and resistance bands. I work up a sweat and never even really notice I'm working out because the game is so engaging. Winning a bout feels really rewarding too.

[Nameless]

See that's what I was afraid of. I think the problem was lunch. I basically snacked through lunch instead of eating a "meal."

Yeah, from what I can tell, eating too little can be just as bad as eating too much. Your body will go into fat storage mode. As it stands, I'm aiming for about 2000 calories per day, which means I would lose about 1.5 pounds per week, which is relatively healthy.

That's another thing; you don't want to lose too much too fast, it can lead to regaining the weight once you're done.

Dropping 1000 calories per day should be your max, plus regular exercise is a the fastest you should go when it comes to losing weight; anything more could be dangerous.

[Karak]

Can you cut your calories too low? I was at about 2100 a day with junk. Down from probably 3000 after I gave up soda and fraps this year. Past week or soo I eliminated most take out, namely places with drive thru, and trying to control portions. Doing stuff like cutting my lunch up in half before eating it and getting the other half boxed. There is also the cutting off of fat on meat, soaking up grease with napkins. I've also boosted up the snaking so I don't come home at midnight trying to stuff my starved face.

Anyways the food logger I've been using says I'm at 1500 calories a day the past for days. The GoWear Fitness(body bugg clone) says I've burned 3800 calories the same days. I'm like 340 pounds so burning I guess is easy for me but I'm like the difference seems high. I mean I feel fine so I guess it's cool to eat less.

How many rest days do you need a week?
Depends on the person. No number is right for any two people.
You need to pay attention to you:)

Basically I find that 1300 calories and my energy and motabo. instantly slows. 1500 I am fine for cutting weight. But you have to first figure out what you are doing. Replacing fat with muscle, or just dropping weight? They both can require very different ways to work out.
You feel fine because you do indeed have extra calories to burn. That will not always be the case and is one more reason why a specific number will not always work as your body will change.

I would personally suggest 3 things.
1 Measure yourself as this is a good means to figure out what going on in your body.
2 If you feel good, continue as long as it is not some stupid cut of calories or something.
3 Don't listen to anyone here, even me that says a specific number or thing will work for you. You need to figure it out for yourself. Its time for some hard love man. And if what you are doing is working, sounds like it is, it may be right for you.
Oh shoot and one more thing. Watch salt intake. Above even calories salt intake can whack you out of control. I reduced mine and dropped 15 pounds fast. One of the good ways is to look at a good pair of normal socks. If you take the socks off after a day and the band where the top of the sock is red/itchy, or indented by a good margin. You are retaining(again a good pair of normal socks not a size 7 for your size 14 feet)

Good luck man. It sounds like your doing well.

[EternalGamer]

Yeah, from what I can tell, eating too little can be just as bad as eating too much. Your body will go into fat storage mode. As it stands, I'm aiming for about 2000 calories per day, which means I would lose about 1.5 pounds per week, which is relatively healthy.

That's another thing; you don't want to lose too much too fast, it can lead to regaining the weight once you're done.

Dropping 1000 calories per day should be your max, plus regular exercise is a the fastest you should go when it comes to losing weight; anything more could be dangerous.

I actually have no idea what my calorie intake is because I've primarily been eating lunch out for the last month. But since Lunch is usually my only meal with a small evening snack (a cup of yogurt, or maybe handful of cereal or half a bag of popcorn), I doubt I'm over 1500 calories even when I eat an pretty extravagant lunch. But I seem to be doing ok at the weight loss so far, so I'll doing what I am until I stop dropping weight. With my current regiment I seem to be loosing around 3 lbs a week with the intensive excercising.

Also I have been having some pretty severe health problems the last couple of years (lots of involuntary muscle jerking, muscle aches, dizziness, loss of energy etc.), and all the expensive tests I had done from 2 MRIs to endoscopy and colonoscopy came up with nothing (despite costing me thousands of dollars). But since I started doing the aformentioned, including excercising, my symptoms have improved pretty dramatically. I have very few muscle jerks and very few pains (outside of the very minor legitimate muscle pains from my work outs). I have far more energy than I have in years. A year ago, I probably couldn't have managed to run two miles. After only a month and half of excercising I'm up to 3 miles a day plus about another hour of excercise.

I just wish someone had told me this BEFORE I spent all that damn money on hospital bills and all that time worrying I was dying of some terrible disease.

[Karak]

See that's what I was afraid of. I think the problem was lunch. I basically snacked through lunch instead of eating a "meal."

Well too bad we do not have european test chambers and you could see your actual calorie output while working out. LOVE THOSE THINGS.
What do you mean by this sentance Xerxes? Did you cut too many is that what you are worried about?
Don't. The 1500 calorie thing has been battered and bruised and destroyed so many times over its stupid. Again it has to do with what works for you.
One major thing to think about is your basic thyriod working level. Get bloodwork if you want to know.
For instance my best friend's was so bad that anything over 1400 calories resulted in weight gain. Its pretty messed up.
I do think that asking here can help you get jump started, but it might be best to check your blood levels and stuff at the doc. For people trying to lose the most weight its the ONLY place to start:)

[Karak]

I actually have no idea what my calorie intake is because I've primarily been eating lunch out for the last month. But since Lunch is usually my only meal with a small evening snack (a cup of yogurt, or maybe handful of cereal or half a bag of popcorn), I doubt I'm over 1500 calories even when I eat an pretty extravagant lunch. But I seem to be doing ok at the weight loss so far, so I'll doing what I am until I stop dropping weight. With my current regiment I seem to be loosing around 3 lbs a week with the intensive excercising.

One thing to think about is, what does intensive excercising mean.
Are you doing wind sprints and drops, or are you setting a good milage pace while running. They will burn different amounts of calories.
I was blown away when we chamber tested and I did a set of metrics, some short sprints, some drops, Indian sits and so on. I usually I BARELY make it through 3 sets of the 6 excercies without almost dying.
I burned around 200 calories....ug:(

[Nameless]

I actually have no idea what my calorie intake is because I've primarily been eating lunch out for the last month. But since Lunch is usually my only meal with a small evening snack (a cup of yogurt, or maybe handful of cereal or half a bag of popcorn), I doubt I'm over 1500 calories even when I eat an pretty extravagant lunch. But I seem to be doing ok at the weight loss so far, so I'll doing what I am until I stop dropping weight. With my current regiment I seem to be loosing around 3 lbs a week with the intensive excercising.

I have no idea how you do that! I would not be able to eat only one meal per day. Seriously. :p

Your calorie intake all depend on what you have for lunch. It's quite possible (in fact, it's quite easy) to eat over 1500 calories in one meal if you eat the right (read: wrong) things.

You should watch out though, as if you aren't eating enough, you could be burning away muscle as well as fat. But of course, everything works differently for everyone, and I sure as hell am no professional, so take what I say with a grain of salt! :)

[EternalGamer]

I have no idea how you do that! I would not be able to eat only one meal per day. Seriously. :p

Your calorie intake all depend on what you have for lunch. It's quite possible (in fact, it's quite easy) to eat over 1500 calories in one meal if you eat the right (read: wrong) things.

You should watch out though, as if you aren't eating enough, you could be burning away muscle as well as fat. But of course, everything works differently for everyone, and I sure as hell am no professional, so take what I say with a grain of salt! :)

It was tough for the first week or so, but after that my appetite adjusted. As I said before, I usually just eat soups and salads since I'm eating vegetarian meals 6 days of the week. Although I do have something friend (like french fries) probably once a week.

As far as the burning muscle, I'm not sure how I would know that other than a loss of energy, but that certainly hasn't been a problem and the excercising seems to be getting quite a bit easier.

[Karak]

It was tough for the first week or so, but after that my appetite adjusted. As I said before, I usually just eat soups and salads since I'm eating vegetarian meals 6 days of the week. Although I do have something friend (like french fries) probably once a week.

As far as the burning muscle, I'm not sure how I would know that other than a loss of energy, but that certainly hasn't been a problem and the excercising seems to be getting quite a bit easier.

Do a couple days of lifting with high reps leg presses and maybe chest presses.
DONT do body weight workouts as that will change.
Anyway and check 1 time a week to see where you are. Any more than that and you may speed up your weightloss or even muscle loss.

[EternalGamer]

One thing to think about is, what does intensive excercising mean.
Are you doing wind sprints and drops, or are you setting a good milage pace while running. They will burn different amounts of calories.
I was blown away when we chamber tested and I did a set of metrics, some short sprints, some drops, Indian sits and so on. I usually I BARELY make it through 3 sets of the 6 excercies without almost dying.
I burned around 200 calories....ug:(

I don't know what a good pace is, but I generally do most of the 3 miles at 6 miles per hour with two laps (1/2 mile) at the peak at 7 miles per hour plus half a lap of slow walk both at the beginning and end for warm up and cooldown. I generally finish my 3 miles in a little under 30 minutes.

As for the other excersize, EA Active (on the Wii) has me doing resistance training (but I bought a heftier band that has more resistance--the one that comes with it is pretty weak). Lots of arm curls, shoulder raises, rowing, and lunges (ugh, god I hate the lunges). It's generally around a 30 minute work out of 250-300 calories.

Then I've been doing a couple of sessions of Punch Out Wii a day (generally around 30 minute each). It's considerably lower impact than the aforementioned, but I still work up a good sweat. I use the resistance bands while punching and the balance board to duck and dodge. It's more of something entertaining that has some excercise benefits. But I'm almost always drenched in sweat when I finally take down one of the opponents.

[EternalGamer]

Do a couple days of lifting with high reps leg presses and maybe chest presses.
DONT do body weight workouts as that will change.
Anyway and check 1 time a week to see where you are. Any more than that and you may speed up your weightloss or even muscle loss.

You mean to check for muscle loss? I don't have any weights at home (I do all the other work out at home--I have a treadmill). Really, I'm more interested in loosing weight and staying in good health than bulking up. I dont' really care much about muscle tone. I have a pretty small frame and my body type isn't exactly geared towards a six pack and bulding biceps. I just want to get get rid of a little stomach fat, have more energy, and get back to my size 29" waist pants rather than throwing them all out (I'm at 32" waist now).

[Karak]

I don't know what a good pace is, but I generally do most of the 3 miles at 6 miles per hour with two laps (1/2 mile) at the peak at 7 miles per hour plus half a lap of slow walk both at the beginning and end for warm up and cooldown. I generally finish my 3 miles in a little under 30 minutes.

As for the other excersize, EA Active (on the Wii) has me doing resistance training (but I bought a heftier band that has more resistance--the one that comes with it is pretty weak). Lots of arm curls, shoulder raises, rowing, and lunges (ugh, god I hate the lunges). It's generally around a 30 minute work out of 250-300 calories.

Then I've been doing a couple of sessions of Punch Out Wii a day (generally around 30 minute each). It's considerably lower impact than the aforementioned, but I still work up a good sweat. I use the resistance bands while punching and the balance board to duck and dodge. It's more of something entertaining that has some excercise benefits. But I'm almost always drenched in sweat when I finally take down one of the opponents.

Despite this not being super intensive you are doing some body work which always raises the calorie burn more.
Watch out with thinking sweat means something. It litterally means nothing. NOTHING.
Sadly. Because it feels like you are just working hard and then you find out your not:)
but you sound like you are doing a good rounabout workout.

[Karak]

You mean to check for muscle loss? I don't have any weights at home (I do all the other work out at home--I have a treadmill). Really, I'm more interested in loosing weight and staying in good health than bulking up. I dont' really care much about muscle tone. I have a pretty small frame and my body type isn't exactly geared towards a six pack and bulding biceps. I just want to get get rid of a little stomach fat, have more energy, and get back to my size 29" waist pants rather than throwing them all out (I'm at 32" waist now).
Then I wouldn't worry.
Yep measurements are the way to go.
Good job sir, Good job.

[Xerxes]

i lost five pounds... this week!

Stretch...
Go to park and walk 2 - 3 miles in the morning...
Come home and bust 45 min - 1 hour of Yourself Fitness...
And my diet has been something of a by ear thing. But I think I only went over 2000 calories once.

I skipped Wednesday, but there is still tomorrow. Being able to crank up output and see results like this motivate me. I'm trying to determine should I dial it up another notch, get a better diet, or just stay the course and worry about adpating when it's not as effective.

[OldeWolf]

May to August = 34 pounds loss so far and counting. (209 to 175)

[JayVe]

I don't check in with my weight very often, but always looking to be healthier. Taken up walking almost everywhere, and growing my own veggies out back this summer. Down to a respectable 167 lbs.

[Karak]

i lost five pounds... this week!

Stretch...
Go to park and walk 2 - 3 miles in the morning...
Come home and bust 45 min - 1 hour of Yourself Fitness...
And my diet has been something of a by ear thing. But I think I only went over 2000 calories once.

I skipped Wednesday, but there is still tomorrow. Being able to crank up output and see results like this motivate me. I'm trying to determine should I dial it up another notch, get a better diet, or just stay the course and worry about adpating when it's not as effective.

You could also do a couple hard days(when you have the energy) and at minimum do your normal workout. Caloric output will be increased however you may not feel as bunt out. Also there are a ton of studies that show that kind of peak/low training to be very good for breaking through AND not hitting stalls.

[EternalGamer]

May to August = 34 pounds loss so far and counting. (209 to 175)

That's awesome. I've gotten into a very tight regime from June to August (and I've only deviated from it maybe 3 days in that time) and I still only lost around 20 pounds in that time (from about 177lbs to 157lbs, but I'm pretty short).

It seems to be getting ALOT harder to take off weight now as I've been pretty stable for the last couple of weeks despite the fact that I am running 5 1/2 to 6 miles a day (in under an hour) and have generally only been eating one meal a day. I did eat two each day during my recent trip to Quebec but continued my jogging and I figured all the additional walking each day made up for it. I ate some great food, so I was pretty happy to just maintain my weight on my trip. But for both the week before and now the week after my trip, I haven't really lost any additional weight beyond the initial 20lbs.

Kudos to you and whatever you are doing to take off that much. I know I worked really damn hard just to take off what I did.

[bapenguin]

I'm down about 20 pounds right now since end of May/June. Hopefully I can lose another 5 or so by PAX.

I do the elliptical for 20-25 minutes 5 days a week, light lifting. Walk the dog daily. And have been watching calories/fat.

I hope to be down under 200 by the end of the year. I'm sitting at 230-ish now.

[JayVe]

Then I've been doing a couple of sessions of Punch Out Wii a day (generally around 30 minute each). It's considerably lower impact than the aforementioned, but I still work up a good sweat. I use the resistance bands while punching and the balance board to duck and dodge. It's more of something entertaining that has some excercise benefits. But I'm almost always drenched in sweat when I finally take down one of the opponents.
Have you considered adding weights to your wrists?

Another fun one to check out is Gold's Gym: Cardio Workout (http://www.metacritic.com/games/platforms/wii/goldsgymcardioworkout). It isn't what I expected at all. The boxing is excellent and feels like a dance-dance punching game for your hands. Very fast, very fun.

[Karak]

That's awesome. I've gotten into a very tight regime from June to August (and I've only deviated from it maybe 3 days in that time) and I still only lost around 20 pounds in that time (from about 177lbs to 157lbs, but I'm pretty short).

It seems to be getting ALOT harder to take off weight now as I've been pretty stable for the last couple of weeks despite the fact that I am running 5 1/2 to 6 miles a day (in under an hour) and have generally only been eating one meal a day. I did eat two each day during my recent trip to Quebec but continued my jogging and I figured all the additional walking each day made up for it.

Basic energy burning can lower as much as 45% when eating 2 meals a day and as much as 76% when eating 1 meal a day. Those numbers are from russian studies of diet programs.
Eat 3. Do not confuse that with starvation mode that happens when your calories are low, it has to do with the way the body burns calories, has calories available for work outs and where the calories come from during your workout. Belly versus body.

[Xerxes]

You could also do a couple hard days(when you have the energy) and at minimum do your normal workout. Caloric output will be increased however you may not feel as bunt out. Also there are a ton of studies that show that kind of peak/low training to be very good for breaking through AND not hitting stalls.

You actually give me an idea.

Sunday - rest
Monday - normal
Tuesday - hard
Wednesday - rest
Thursday - hard
Friday - normal
Saturday - light

9 rounds of golf count as a light workout rightl :o

[Karak]

You actually give me an idea.

Sunday - rest
Monday - normal
Tuesday - hard
Wednesday - rest
Thursday - hard
Friday - normal
Saturday - light

9 rounds of golf count as a light workout rightl :o

THis can work. However what I meant. If you go to work out and feel great. Do the hard one, if you do not do your good workout. What this does is lets you NOT set a specific mood or requirement.
But what you have here is a good lineup. It just that you may find out that on Thursday you feel bad then on Friday feel great.

[Xerxes]

THis can work. However what I meant. If you go to work out and feel great. Do the hard one, if you do not do your good workout. What this does is lets you NOT set a specific mood or requirement.
But what you have here is a good lineup. It just that you may find out that on Thursday you feel bad then on Friday feel great.

Well this week I just trying to force a mood change. I guess it worked. I know if you mind and heart in the work, you don't get as much from it if you were doing the same things on autopilot. I even find autopilot has to work annoyingly harder while if you in the moment giving it your all it's not as hard. Weird.

[JayVe]

Came across a video for the weight-loss program, Your Shape (http://www.joystiq.com/2009/08/20/your-first-look-at-your-shapes-camera/).

While it bares resemblance to Project Natal, unlike Microsoft's peripheral, Ubisoft's device and Your Shape will actually be out this year -- more precisely, this December. We know, it's a crazy concept for a game to release during the 2009 holidays.

[Xerxes]

Pffft. Save yourself time and money. Yourself Fitness and me are doing gang busters.

[JayVe]

Pffft. Save yourself time and money. Yourself Fitness and me are doing gang busters.

We (the Mrs and I) used Yourself Fitness for years on the original Xbox and later on the 360. We've recently switched to Gold's Gym: Cardio Workout for WII (http://www.metacritic.com/games/platforms/wii/goldsgymcardioworkout) and love it.

[Xerxes]

I do want to try some of the Wii apps, but at 340 I think I'll still crack the Wii board. O_o
If I can keep up with this 5 a week I'm on so far though, I'll get one soon enough. I think I'm actually closer to losing 12 pounds since the start of last week.

[Karak]

We (the Mrs and I) used Yourself Fitness for years on the original Xbox and later on the 360. We've recently switched to Gold's Gym: Cardio Workout for WII (http://www.metacritic.com/games/platforms/wii/goldsgymcardioworkout) and love it.

THANK YOU. I did not know that was out and my wife loves/adores wii workout stuff.

[Karak]

I do want to try some of the Wii apps, but at 340 I think I'll still crack the Wii board. O_o
If I can keep up with this 5 a week I'm on so far though, I'll get one soon enough. I think I'm actually closer to losing 12 pounds since the start of last week.

I am just going to throw this out there as it has worked wonders for me.
Have you tried Nutrisystem? Or thought about it? I have seen tremendous results in my workout weight as well as 3 of my family members. I think combined they have lost more than 90 pounds in 4 months.

[Xerxes]

I am just going to throw this out there as it has worked wonders for me.
Have you tried Nutrisystem? Or thought about it? I have seen tremendous results in my workout weight as well as 3 of my family members. I think combined they have lost more than 90 pounds in 4 months.

I haven't. I actually ended up inadvertently slipping into modified south beach. Haven't been doing much bread, although I have been having grains from like a trail mix bar for afternoon snack. I haven't went ballastic on meat like south beach however. I've been feeding myself mostly fruit, nuts, carrots, celery, and tuna. It's hasn't gotten old yet really. Although I've had a few relaxed days. The other day I had a quizno sandwhich and last saturday we went to a brazilian steakhouse. The salad and meat probably weren't so bad, but my aunt pawning off her huge ass slice of carrot cake did. If the place had grilled pineapple I probably wouldn't had bothered, but I got this sweet tooth. I had no fruit to stop myself. It was rich too. :o

[Karak]

I haven't. I actually ended up inadvertently slipping into modified south beach. Haven't been doing much bread, although I have been having grains from like a trail mix bar for afternoon snack. I haven't went ballastic on meat like south beach however. I've been feeding myself mostly fruit, nuts, carrots, celery, and tuna. It's hasn't gotten old yet really. Although I've had a few relaxed days. The other day I had a quizno sandwhich and last saturday we went to a brazilian steakhouse. The salad and meat probably weren't so bad, but my aunt pawning off her huge ass slice of carrot cake did. If the place had grilled pineapple I probably wouldn't had bothered, but I got this sweet tooth. I had no fruit to stop myself. It was rich too. :o

Copy that.
I think you are doing it right. Treating it like a change of ife and serves versus a diet is VITAL. For me nutrisystem took the large servings I was accostomed to on Atkins(Had to come off due to getting married and needing to eat cake and such) and made me not feel hungry and so forth.
When I go back to Atkins I will then be on it AND eating smaller portions good times.
It just dawned on me. its been 11 years.

[Karak]

Wow. My friend who USED to weight 380 now weights 180. He stopped by this weekend and he just looks...amazing.

How? He went to the local track and began running.
1 lap on Monday, 2 on wednesday, and 3 on friday
THen the next week he began at his wendesday number of 2 so it went.
M 2, W 3, F4
M 3, W 4, F5
M 4, W 5, F6
M 5, W 6, F7

And just kept doing it and doing it.
He can now run 14 miles without any problems and basically got to a point where he had to switch to "hours" instead of laps for his running time.
Something was so pure and easy about how he started. He said he started low on purpose so that he would have time to truly build up.

Man what a good idea.

[bapenguin]

I'm about 3 pounds shy of my goal for PAX. I've been going hardcore though and I think I can do it.

If so I'll be down 25 for the show and hoping to get down another 25 by the end of the year.

[Serapth]

I stopped losing weight because summer came and I like beer.

[Jackel]

I stopped losing weight because summer came and I like beer.

I had the same problem. only I don't consider it a problem.

[Xerxes]

I slowed down recently. Beginning of school is kind of a hard time at a University. I think I can only be so tough in mind and body at a time. Everyday after work I'm wiped and get up when I get up. Still trying to keep my food managed.

[Serapth]

I slowed down recently. Beginning of school is kind of a hard time at a University. I think I can only be so tough in mind and body at a time. Everyday after work I'm wiped and get up when I get up. Still trying to keep my food managed.

As they say, diets don't work. You need to changed the way you eat.



That said, I am not losing weight right now. Something about 800 daily calories from beer is a bit of a bitch.

[Xerxes]

As they say, diets don't work. You need to changed the way you eat.



That said, I am not losing weight right now. Something about 800 daily calories from beer is a bit of a bitch.

Diets ARE what you eat. And mines is changed. I've been knocking my self down to 2000 calories, and it's doable. Fuck that calculator that said 2750. I ain't trying to maintain. I do feel more tired, but I blame the working out.

Edit: I won't say forever changed. I'd like to work my way to being able to have a marble slab cone from time to time. Eating fried chicken with out feeling oily on the inside.

One thing I know has to change is activity. I have to be more active, more often. That's why in my head I hear Terry Tate/Cole Train. It's actually pretty funny to come up with new lines and rhymes. Like when I'm on my third mile, or crying on my first few minutes of a workout about a wobbly knee.

"WOOOOO, ALL DAY, EVERYDAY BABY! We get's it in like the postman! Ain't no quitters in my house!"

[EternalGamer]

"WOOOOO, ALL DAY, EVERYDAY BABY! We get's it in like the postman! Ain't no quitters in my house!"

I've cut back my diet to one meal a day (late lunch) and it has made my work outs more difficult to endure as well (having to come home and slog out a jog after studying for 10 hours doesn't make it easy either, so I hear you on the university problem), but I like this better than careful calorie counting because the next day I know I get to reward myself to a great meal (though I try not to go too overboard--rarely anything fried or desert). But oh my god is that lunch always fantastic. Granted, I could eat Alpo out of a can and it would probably taste amazing by the time 1pm rolls around, though.

But I have a similar problem with my jogging and it's always the first 2-3 miles that are really fucking hard for me. My legs feel like jello. The last couple of miles are cake by comparison (I do between 5 1/2-6 miles per day). And I also have to yell at myself with an internal voice to stay motivated during that slog of the first couple of miles, but, unlike your "cheerleading" machismo voice, my internal voice is more like the drill sergent in "Full Metal Jacket," so basically I have an internal monolog that just continiously abuses me with loud swearing and calling me a "Fucking pussy" for the first 20 minutes of my routine.

I'm only about 12lbs from my goal now. When I get back to it, then I'll go back to balanced, reasonable meals full time (but continue the jogging). But to lose weight, requires more extreme measures.

[Xerxes]

But I have a similar problem with my jogging and it's always the first 2-3 miles that are really fucking hard for me. My legs feel like jello. The last couple of miles are cake by comparison (I do between 5 1/2-6 miles per day). And I also have to yell at myself with an internal voice to stay motivated during that slog of the first couple of miles, but, unlike your "cheerleading" machismo voice, my internal voice is more like the drill sergent in "Full Metal Jacket," so basically I have an internal monolog that just continiously abuses me with loud swearing and calling me a "Fucking pussy" for the first 20 minutes of my routine.

That's rough. Terry's mean but still mostly encouraging and fair. That's why i respect him.

[Karak]

I've cut back my diet to one meal a day (late lunch) and it has made my work outs more difficult to endure as well (having to come home and slog out a jog after studying for 10 hours doesn't make it easy either, so I hear you on the university problem), but I like this better than careful calorie counting because the next day I know I get to reward myself to a great meal (though I try not to go too overboard--rarely anything fried or desert). But oh my god is that lunch always fantastic. Granted, I could eat Alpo out of a can and it would probably taste amazing by the time 1pm rolls around, though.

But I have a similar problem with my jogging and it's always the first 2-3 miles that are really fucking hard for me. My legs feel like jello. The last couple of miles are cake by comparison (I do between 5 1/2-6 miles per day). And I also have to yell at myself with an internal voice to stay motivated during that slog of the first couple of miles, but, unlike your "cheerleading" machismo voice, my internal voice is more like the drill sergent in "Full Metal Jacket," so basically I have an internal monolog that just continiously abuses me with loud swearing and calling me a "Fucking pussy" for the first 20 minutes of my routine.

I'm only about 12lbs from my goal now. When I get back to it, then I'll go back to balanced, reasonable meals full time (but continue the jogging). But to lose weight, requires more extreme measures.
Strange thing that works for me in this kind of situation.
I do about 20 very deep no weight squats. Super deep and hold at the bottom. Something about getting the blood into my legs early works for the wobbles in a way stretching doesn't.
I know what you mean though. I can run 12 easily but the first 2, if I have not prepared, are devestating. Now that I added the squats I don't have any problems with any of it.

[EternalGamer]

Strange thing that works for me in this kind of situation.
I do about 20 very deep no weight squats. Super deep and hold at the bottom. Something about getting the blood into my legs early works for the wobbles in a way stretching doesn't.
I know what you mean though. I can run 12 easily but the first 2, if I have not prepared, are devestating. Now that I added the squats I don't have any problems with any of it.

I might try that. For the last week, though, I've found another solution. I used to run the first few laps at a slower pace, but now after I brief stretch, I just start at full speed and I find that I can endure a lot better. Maybe it is a similar principle of the faster run is stretching my muscles more and getting blood to them. I switched from starting with 5mph to just jumping straight to 7.5 - 8mph and things seem to have been getting easier.

And 12mph is impressive. The most I have done is 7 1/2, but, as I said earlier I usually do around 6 miles a day / 7 days a week. The real limiting fact for me, though, is time. It really does become pretty easy after those first few miles. By the time I get up to 5 1/2 or 6 miles, I feel like i could keep going without a problem even though that is where I typically stop simply because it takes an hour to get there and I don't have a lot more time than that to dedicate to work out everyday, especially with the mountain of school work I'm getting thrown at me lately.

[EternalGamer]

I slowed down recently. Beginning of school is kind of a hard time at a University. I think I can only be so tough in mind and body at a time. Everyday after work I'm wiped and get up when I get up. Still trying to keep my food managed.

When I was younger, that was sort of my principle. I could really focus on one of the following at a time: financial, intellectual, or physical, but trying to drastically limit myself on more than one at a time was something I couldn't handle. But lately, I've gotten pretty good at balancing all 3. It's amazing what weaning yourself off so much instant gratification can do. The reward of delayed satisfaction for the sake of accomplishment makes finishing that paper/buying that new game/eating that fried chicken all the more special and enjoyable.

[BigJonno]

Just popped in to say "Woo, go Olympics!" Had a flyer from a local (literally 10 minutes walk) gym put through my door the other day. It turns out that there's a program linked to the 2012 Games that means people are getting subsidised gym memberships. Mrs Jonno and I have both signed up and we're starting on the 8th after the little'un is back at school.

I'm really looking forward to getting back into the gym for the first time in years. My plan is to hit the weights as well as shifting the flab, so I can stay BigJonno. TallandthinJonno or LankyJonno just don't have the same ring to them.

[Karak]

I might try that. For the last week, though, I've found another solution. I used to run the first few laps at a slower pace, but now after I brief stretch, I just start at full speed and I find that I can endure a lot better. Maybe it is a similar principle of the faster run is stretching my muscles more and getting blood to them. I switched from starting with 5mph to just jumping straight to 7.5 - 8mph and things seem to have been getting easier.



Sometimes I need 2-3 different things to get myself ready for a run. And sometimes nothing. But ya try it next time and see if it works.
Yesterday we did 11 hours of airsoft and I can barely move I am so sore. Damn

[Loki]

Down 30 pounds over the last 8 months. Not quick but very good and constant pace

[MrBibbz]

I've cut back my diet to one meal a day (late lunch).....

Bad idea... you need to constantly feed your body.. kind of like always making sure you have gas in your car's tank.

I've found that working out, eating several small meals through out the day and staying away from the bad stuff is what aids the best in weightloss.

[Xerxes]

At the rate I'm going, I could be back in the 200s by the start of November. Being able to see progress just feeds the need to keep going. I haven't been in the 200s as far back as I can remember. That's horrible.

[EternalGamer]

Bad idea... you need to constantly feed your body.. kind of like always making sure you have gas in your car's tank.

I've found that working out, eating several small meals through out the day and staying away from the bad stuff is what aids the best in weightloss.

I know it's not optimal, but it's what is most conveinent for me and it works. I've lost over 20 lbs and several pants sizes (down to a size 30 waist). Once I get down another 10 lbs and one more waist size, I'm going to go back to just eat balanced meals all around, though.

[Loki]

I know it's not optimal, but it's what is most conveinent for me and it works. I've lost over 20 lbs and several pants sizes (down to a size 30 waist). Once I get down another 10 lbs and one more waist size, I'm going to go back to just eat balanced meals all around, though.

Jesus. You're a god damn toothpick. I'm size 34-36 in my optimal pant-size.

[Serapth]

Starting again. Currently 6'2 218, was down to 210 pre summer. Aiming for 190.

Wife and I literally started today.

[EternalGamer]

Jesus. You're a god damn toothpick. I'm size 34-36 in my optimal pant-size.

Nah, I'm just short (5' 8"). I'm actually still slightly overweight for my height but in another month, I should be where I need to.

[Loki]

Nah, I'm just short (5' 8"). I'm actually still slightly overweight for my height but in another month, I should be where I need to.

Oh, right. Never considered shortness to be a factor...Sorry :D

[OldeWolf]

*Wonders if I should post a before and after picture in here from 212 pounds down to 170*

[Serapth]

6th beerless day. Beginning to think being fat wouldnt be so bad.