The Biggest LOOSER -- running weight loss thread

Well, I ran my first road race on Friday, a big, local 10-miler that brings in about 3,800 runners. I had covered the race as a sports writer seven years in a row, from 2002-2008 and never thought there was a chance I'd ever run it.

In the weeks leading up to the race, I was consistently running 6 miles, averaging 8:30/mile. I ran 8 miles once, but I never really had time to do that many miles consistently.

I felt pretty good that I could do the 10 miles, though, and I figured I could definitely do 10-minute miles, so I set 100 minutes as my goal. I figured I had an outside chance to break 90 minutes, but, having never even run a race before, there was a lot I didn't know about what it would be like, so I planned to shoot for 100.

The first 7 miles were pretty excruciating. It was near 100 percent humidity, and I went out too fast in the first two miles, clocking them at just over 16 minutes. It took a lot out of me and made the next five miles pretty miserable.

The last three miles, however, I started seeing people I knew every mile or so and, with the end so near, I got my groove back and started killing it.

At the 8-mile marker, a race official said we were at 82 minutes. I had to do two 9-minute miles to reach my goal.

I found a good rhythm and crushed the final hill and then cruised for the next mile and half. With about a quarter mile to go, you come down the final stretch and some guy started to pass me. I sped up. He sped up. We both began a full-out sprint to the finish.

I could see the course clock as we ran down the final straightaway and it read 1 hour, 42 minutes. I knew I didn't make my time, but at least I was trying to beat the random guy, so I pushed it as hard as I could across the finish.

I completed the 10 miles, a little slower than I had hoped, but, a year after weighing 233 pounds with bad knees, it felt like a hell of an accomplishment.

Oh yeah, I checked my results the next day and my final time was 1:39:49. I beat my goal by 11 seconds. I could have eased up when I saw that clock at 1:42, but fortunately, I continued to push myself and that turned out to be the difference. I forgot that you bib has a magnetic chip in it, so your individual time doesn't start until you cross the starting line, which took about two minutes after the gun went off.

Now my friends are trying to get me to do a half-marathon. And it doesn't sound so bad. Only 3 more miles ....

 

Congrats, bigpern. That's awesome!

 

Congratulations bigpern.

If you don't mind me asking how much have you lost?

 

63 pounds ... down from 233 to 170.

 

Oh, and thanks HC and Pancamo! It feels damn good to be able to complete a race like that!

 

A little over three weeks ago, I had to make a decision. I felt really heavy and was threatening to head to a whole new size -- up. Not good.
Watched my diet for a couple of days, then finally stepped on the scale at 245. My highest ever and 100 pounds heavier than my high school graduation day.
Cut back... changed the diet; cereal and turkey bacon in the morning or yogurt at lunch, or yogurt for breakfast and ham & cheese rollups with celery and cheese for lunch. Dinner was something decent but low carb, high protein with whole grain side as much as possible. Have also only had alcohol three times in that stretch -- with no three fingers of Jack Daniels over rocks before bedtime, which is killing me.
I walk the dogs daily and try to take another, longer, walk myself. Still too fat to run, especially with life long knee problems.
Today is the 21st day, and I've lost 10.5 pounds. Not great -- considering the lasttime I went on a diet was 2003 and I lost 13 pounds in two weeks on Atkins -- but it will do. Would like to get back between 190-200 for good, but we'll see. Last time I dieted, I went to 188-190 and could get no lower.

 

Nice work Slappy. Yeah, diet alone is a huge difference-maker. Key is to still enjoy what you're eating though. If you change diet and hate what you're eating, eventually you'll fall off the wagon.

I've run into a pretty big roadblock in my diet. I had lost 40 pounds a couple months ago, and since then I've lost... two more. I'm still working out, but my diet has slumped a bit and I've gone out for meals too often.

I'm still doing better - I had to buy new belts this past week because my waistline has shrunk so much my old belts weren't tight enough. But the weight is becoming tougher to shed.

I still thought I'd have lost 10 pounds in the past couple months though. I've basically stagnated. Any suggestions?

 

Slappy--10 lbs in 3 weeks is solid weight loss. You lost more on Atkins but like most people you gained it all back. Too hard to keep Atkins weight off unless you are really committed to eating that way for life. Most people are not.

Just guessing you're still getting too much sugar and fat in your diet. Get rid of the yogurt and cheese....diet killers. Get rid of the dairy stuff altogether. Eat your carbs in the morning (the whole grains, fruits, cereal) and then really focus on lean protein the rest of the day (vegetables, fish, grilled chicken). No one NEEDS bread or potatoes. If you drink, clear alcohol has fewer calories/sugar than brown alcohol (vodka vs Jack), but remember alcohol also makes you crave carbs (which is why we wake up the next day buried in a pile of foil Hersheys kiss wrappers and no idea how they got there).

No soda, diet or otherwise.

Also...portion control. If you want the burger, throw away one piece of the bread. One slice of pizza instead of 4. A spoonful of ice cream instead of the whole quart. Handful of nuts for the mid-afternoon craving.

Not really fun but you will definitely see results.

 

Why no diet soda? Or as we call it in flyover country, pop?

 

Proven fact that diet soda tricks your body into thinking sugar is coming, so it releases the insulin to digest the sugar. But there's no sugar, so your body craves more. So you eat more. I'm over simplifying a ton of research, will look for a good link.

Bottom line, those zero calories make you crazy for real calories.

 

I just watched the documentary Fat, Sick and Nearly Dead about how this guy from Australia lost 82 pounds in two months on a juice fast.

I could never do it for that long, but he lost 26 pounds in the first 10 days. That's an amazing kickstart for anyone.

 

Interesting.

I'm happy to say I've severely cut back on my Diet Coke consumption the last few weeks, which is probably why your statement caught my eye. I'm down to two 12-ounce cans and one 7.5-once can a day, timed at 6 a.m. 9 a.m., and noon. It's less obsessive-compulsive than it is me doing what I can to stave off the caffeine headaches, which I hate.

I was drinking a ton of Caffeine Free the first few days to ease the psychological transition away from the stuff. I've cut that out now, though.

I remember about six years ago, right before my wedding, I had cut out caffeine completely before my wedding. But the jet lag after the honeymoon got me on it again. Hoping to phase it out for good this time. Too much money. Too many cans and bottles littering up the house. And I hate having a chemical dependency I hate to feed.