The Biggest LOOSER -- running weight loss thread

a little over a year ago i was wearing size 52 jeans. bought a new pair last week - size 40! headed for 34, i hope. and at 48, i should be proof you're never too old to get in shape and potentially save your life.

i honestly believe i would've been headed for an early grave if i hadn't gotten smacked rudely in the face by a diagnosis of type 2 diabetes (which is no longer the case) and other serious maladies headed my way.

 

Well if that isn't a kick in the ass! Seriously, dropping 12 inches on your waist is RIDICULOUS. Good job!

What's been the biggest change?

 

i started eating right (with the occasional lapse during football season - damn that press box popcorn). got results of an a1c test this morning and had a level of 5.0 even after a couple of months of beings off the meds. so it's official that i no longer am considered to have type 2 diabetes.

my eyesight is better, blood pressure is down, i sleep much better with no insomnia, i breathe a lot easier and about a month and a half ago, i was able to take a 4-mile walk. of course that was before a grade 2/3 torn mcl that i'm still recovering from, which was just a stupid, freak accident.

it all comes down to eating properly and knowing that it's ok to treat myself to something "bad" now and then and that it's ok (in fact, it's normal) to sometimes fall off the healthy eating wagon. you get off your diet? don't beat yourself up, just get back to work eating the right things.

seriously, i was headed for disaster.

and oh yeah, my butt looks pretty darn good for an old man of 48 in those size 40 jeans!

 

PX90 as opposed to buying a used weight machine and a (used) exercise bike?
What sort of additional crap do I need for the PX90? Weights?

 

Back to the path of the righteous since New Year's Day. I had really gone to hell in terms of eating over the past six months and the change in work location caused by Sandy required that I get up way earlier than normal to work out. So after losing 42 pounds on a modified South Beach diet and steady exercise three years ago, I put it all back on. Where I once was easily a size 36, now the size 38 pants are snug. I realize that I need a regimen or I'm toast.

So, starting New Year's day, back to salads for lunch, healthy snacks only and no fried food or bad desserts. Not drinking on a work night, even my normal glass of wine with dinner. Getting up early to do the stairmaster almost every day before work.

As of this morning, I am already down 7.5 pounds. Goal is to get down to around 230 by the end of February (which would be 16 pounds) and 220 by Memorial Day. I'd love to be around 210, but anywhere in the 215 range would be great.

 

Good job. Keep up the good work.....

 

I gained back about 25 pounds in the past year. I haven't been eating terribly, but certainly not as strictly as I had been. My girlfriend is a helluva good cook, and she caters to my requests for lower-fat foods most of the time, but I'm not as careful about carbs as I was. I would probably not have gained much weight had I been exercising as regularly as was this time a year ago, but my workouts really suffered after my son was born last April.

Signed back up for the gym last weekend and went yesterday. Weighed in at 199 and I was dreading how out of shape I was going to feel, but I actually didn't do too badly. Cruised an easy four miles -- three at a steady jog of 10-minute miles, plus a half-mile warm-up and half-mile cool down. Didn't have to slow down while I was jogging, so that was really encouraging. I'd like to get that down to 7-minute miles and extend the distance to about 6 miles by the time summer rolls around. That was a regular run for me at this time last year.

Went home and slammed down a protein shake, a couple of chicken breasts and a salad.

Hoping to be back down to about 175 by May.

 

Thanks. Two months in and I am down 21 pounds to 226. The 38 pants aren't exactly falling off of me yet, but at least it isn't a struggle to put them on and I've probably lost 1/2 inch in neck size. Goal is a couple of pounds a month over the next 4 months and hopefully to be at 215 by 4th of July.

 

After reading "Why We Get Fat ..." by Gary Taubes in March, I embraced a low-carb eating approach about eight weeks ago. I'd topped out this winter at 255 (I'm a shade under 5-foot-10) - not the most I have ever weighed, sadly, but pretty close.

My ninth wedding anniversary was coming up, and the math was undeniable - there were many ups and downs, but I'd been steadily putting on 2 pounds a year since we got married in 2004. Some mornings I would look in the mirror and see the outlines of my father, who was dead before he turned 60. (I'm almost 56.)

Taubes spends most of his time explaining the science of fat accumulation and only talks about an "eating plan" in any detail in the appendix. After I read the book, I said, "I can do that." And I can.

I have dropped most of the things that made up my diet - breaded fried stuff, especially chicken strips; potatoes of any kind; rice, pasta, etc. I eat very little bread - one piece of toast with breakfast maybe 3 days a week. Lots and lots of green veggies. When I want a beer, it's a Michelob Ultra. I will have a square from a 90% Cocoa bar for a treat.

But I like what I can eat. Bacon and eggs for breakfast, a "roast beef sandwich" without bread for lunch. There's a cool place near our office with healthy veggies and entrees. And I'm figuring out how to eat in places where I was going before. (Pizza place = just eat the toppings. Mexican = fajita plate without tortillas.)

Did I mention bacon? Oh, sweet sweet bacon.
.
I'm down to 225 this morning, from a starting point around 249. I don't think I've been there since maybe one week in 2005 and a prolonged period in that range back in in 1990 or so. I'm down two pants sizes from the winter and had to buy some jeans on Friday that wouldn't fall off of me without a belt.

Also: I'm getting up when my wife has to leave early for work and spending some time with her, when I used to just sleep until she kissed me goodbye. I feel a little bit more organized inside my own head, which may or may not have anything to do with what I'm eating. Felt productive enough to re-launch my weekly column a few weeks ago.

The only negative, if I may speak freely, is that my intestinal tract still doesn't know what to think about what I'm eating. I swing between the two extremes, which I'll throw under the general heading of "irregular."

I'm pondering a blood panel in June just to see what's going on inside - my triglycerides were elevated the last two years when we had our annual screenings in October.

My deal with myself, when I started in mid-March, was that I would try to stick with this until my anniversary on June 12. I was hoping I might get down to 235 by then.

Taubes' argument is that your body will, given a low-carb diet, "re-regulate" itself and stabilize itself at - and I don't think he uses the term - an "ideal weight." People I know who have done the low carb thing all say they tended to regain weight after they "stopped."

But I think this is the path for me moving forward. I don't crave a lot of the crap I was eating before and I have been very comfortable walking away from things I would have gorged myself with this winter - newsroom donuts!

Got up today and felt like sharing. Your thoughts?

 

Great work. As one who has floated back and forth on low carb/low sugar diets a couple of times over the years, I find it to be a diet which isn't that difficult to do.

For me, it's all about setting up a regimen -- it is a very slippery slope for me in terms of diet. I choose from a couple of breakfasts, lunches and snacks which I really enjoy. If I have to think about these things, I'll go towards a less healthy option. My dinners are a little more varied, but I grill Sunday night, which usually covers dinners for Monday and Tuesday, and Mrs. W (who is doing the diet as well) usually makes dinner before she leaves for work so that we have a healthy option every weeknight. I do have whole grain bread or rice most days, but usually not more than once a day.

I do the stairmaster 5-6 times per week for 45 minutes. The 3-4 weekday mornings that I do at 5:30 are tough, but it forces me not to have my usual glass of red with dinner (which too often turns into two glasses). I also walk the mile back and forth to the train station instead of driving.

At the same time, I do allow myself to cheat. It's not the end of the world if I have dessert every now and then or a cheeseburger on a regular bun. I just try not to have the second burger or make it a regular habit.

I feel better, am sleeping better, have more energy and am more patient. I weigh myself every weekday and I record my weight and exercise routine in my day planner just to see my progress. I'm down 28 pounds in 2013 and am 4 pounds away from my goal of 215 by the 4th of July. My wedding weight was 210 (12 years ago) and I would love to get to that in 2013, but if I didn't it would be fine.

 

July 1st and this morning was 213, down 34 pounds in 2013 and I made my goal of 215 by July 4th. Now I just need to maintain the loss.

 

Webster, that's awesome! Congrats!!