The Biggest LOOSER -- running weight loss thread

Dick, I'm sure you know this, but since you're down to 158 at 5-foot-9, you probably don't have more to lose, you just need to hit the weights to tone and that last "flab" you speak of will diminish.

I've fluctuated between 185 and 200 the past few years. I'm just 5-7, so it sounds heavy, but I carry a lot of muscle, especially in my lower body, that contributes to the weight. Ideally, I want to get down to 170ish. I'm at 185 now after dropping 15 pounds the past four months. Diet is the key for me, since I love going to the gym and doing things to stay active. Here's hoping I can dial it in and continue on this path.

 

Yeah, I meant more fat to lose. I actually am thinking about forgetting about the scale alltogether at this point and just using the tape measure to track my progress. After an all-aerobic few months, I've started hitting the weights the last three weeks or so. Hopefully it'll pay off. I'm determined to see those abs for the first time ever.

 

You probably don't have fat to lose, you have the leftover skin that was stretched across your former fat. Add some muscle, fill it out, and dump the scale because muscle adds weight, in an awesome way.

 

I think it's definitely fat. I must have a frighteningly low amount of lean muscle. Genetics, I guess. I'm planning to continue to hit the weights HARD, however.

 

Fully agree with 21 here. But also agree with you in terms of lean muscle. If you spent several months just doing cardio, then you were forgetting about the most important thing in maintaining weight/fat loss, which is lifting to develop muscle mass. Speeds up the metabolism, which is so, so important.

I'm always amazed at people who eschew lifting because they believe one of two things: 1) Cardio is much better for losing weight; 2) They don't want to get too muscular (this is almost always women).

You need a solid mix of lifting and cardio to promote fat loss (well, that and a good diet, which is most important) and especially to maintain it. Heck, some people (women especially) will lose more fat by skipping cardio completely and only lifting.

 

For me, it was because I didn't want to spend the money on a gym membership! But I started to realize how well-spent that money would be as my weight plummeted to pre-high school levels and I still had flab.

 

OK, it's been a while since I posted on this thread, but I need some help.
In the last four and a half months I dropped 71 pounds. Now I am still a big guy and have a way to go, but I can actually run again. Only one problem. It is so uncomfortable. My lovehandles are flapping when I run and aside from feeling gross, it makes a slapping noise that is embarrassing - especially running on the treadmill next to cuties. So I don't run as much as I can or should. I know there is Under Armor out there - do they sell my size? 3 or 4 X? Or is there some other type of compression shirt or girddle I can look into to keep everything tucked in while I'm working out or playing in my floor hockey league? Any advice would be appreciated.

 

So, even though I lost the 60 pounds I needed to awhile ago, the rewards keep coming. Yesterday while training a client (I'm not sure if I mentioned on here, and I'm too lazy to look it up, that I am now a personal trainer on the side - a fact that amuses me to no end) I randomly ripped up a bunch of pull-ups.

He was reaching up to the pull-up bar to stretch and I grabbed on and said, 'I'm sure I still can't do this.'

See, just a month or two ago, I tried to do some pull-ups and failed. I had to move over to the machine that has a weight step you stand on to aid you in your pull-ups.

Well, after training my guy, I stuck around to work out myself and did three sets of eight real solid pull-ups. It's the first time I've done a set of them since probably middle school and even though I've felt stronger and lighter over the past few months, this was a surprise. Can't wait to get back in there tomorrow!

 

Sweet. I remember trying to do pull ups and chin ups in seventh and eighth grade. I came close to doing one on several occasions. But I weighed 190 when I was 14. Other kids probably weighed more like 100-130. I was also pissed that they could do them.

Things here are good. I had one bad day. I caved and had about five slices of thin-crust pizza. But I was able to recover without sliding off the train.

I can notice a significant difference in my health. I am sleeping better, moving better and genuinely feeling better.

 

I should amend that post to say they were chin-ups, not pull-ups. It's been so long since I've been able to do them, I forgot what they were called.

HM, it's not a bad thing to have a day to eat what you want. As long as you don't go completely crazy and gorge yourself with 5,000 calories, it actually helps promote weight loss.

During my fat shedding diet, I built in a "cheat day" every week where I could eat anything ... steak, hamburger, pizza, whatever. The key is not to eat too much (as you seem to be aware, you probably overdid it a bit with the slices). Keep to one meal and maybe a small dessert and you'll be fine.

I often lost 2 pounds the day after my cheat day because it keeps your metabolism on its toes — it doesn't get too used to the food you're eating every day. It also helps to keep you on track because rather than eating a slice of pie one day, you might think to yourself, I can do that on Wednesday for my cheat day, today it's going to be a turkey roll-up.

Oh, and another thing is that if you simply tweak your recipes, you don't even have to wait until your cheat day for many of your favorite foods. My fiancee makes a pizza with whole wheat dough, reduced fat mozzarella and turkey pepperoni that is better than any pizza place and is perfectly healthy to eat.

 

I've noticed the same thing about cheat days. They're good for the metabolism. But a second cheat day changes things, it seems. My pizza day wasn't too bad since it was thin-crust. That dough is a bastard. I'm trying to cut out a lot of the needless carbs. It seems to help a lot.

 

Found a new protein bar today that is really good for you (and, contrary to popular belief, most are not much better than a candy bar). CareOne Probiotic protein bars have 20g of protein, only 3g of fat (1.5g saturated) and 20g of carbs.

They also have a probiotic, which is good for digestion. I've only tasted one (the chocolate flavor) and it was decent. I'm looking forward to trying the others.