The Biggest LOOSER -- running weight loss thread

(entering the confessional)

Forgive me, SJ.com, for I have lounged. It's been 3-4 months since my last real workout.

Other than shoveling snow and walking the dog, 2016 hasn't brought much inspiration to exercise. Fortunately, others in my home are strong in their lose weight/get in shape resolutions. My wife has signed both of us up for the 12K Bloomsday run on May 1 in hilly Spokane, and after years of saying I might do it, this will finally be the year. Mainly because I want to support my wife — but also because the cheapskate in me doesn't want to waste the $18.

So I finally jogged today, for the first time in a long, long time. I made it 1.5 miles before coughing up gunk and walking the rest of the planned 2-mile route. Pathetic. If the road race was today, I'd probably be 39,999th out of the 40,000 or so entrants.

On the plus side, maybe this gets the ball rolling. If I finish the route on Saturday, I can move on to a little longer (and maybe hillier) route for February ... the month when I turn 44.

I remember an old poster on the wall of a gym in the Midwest. It had two joggers working out in the early morning fog. A 30-ish guy was running toward the camera, and an older, balding man was jogging away from it.

The caption said, "It will never get any easier."

 

Nothing to do with exercise, but why is a Bloomsday run on May 1? Bloomsday is June 16.
Good luck with the exercise regimen. I'll hang up and take your response off air.

 

Up here in the hinterlands of the Inland Northwest, there is a "Bloomsday" festival based on when the lilacs bloom. The Bloomsday run is part of it.

Lilac Bloomsday Run

 

OK, I get it now. I was thinking of the Leopold Bloom/James Joyce Bloomsday.
Which would be oddly well remembered with a 5k run.
From the coastal tower to the pub maybe?

FYI, I am now officially fat.

 

Back to the weight loss routine again. I've put on about 20 pounds over the past couple of years, mostly over the past 6 months. Even though I've done cardio 3-5 times a week relatively regularly and walk a lot most days, my eating had gone to crap, in part because my new job has a great subsidized cafeteria. On top of the eating, I've been hitting the red wine a little too often and too hard.

I've been feeling very run down recently, my bad back is acting up and I have been getting nighttime leg cramps (a chronic problem) more frequently and severely than in the past. After a parent in my daughter's class died suddenly at 50, I decided to have a physical for the first time in 3 years. Numbers were still pretty good (knock wood), but I was at 230 pounds, as opposed to the 208 pounds when I had my last physical. Doctor didn't really have an answer for the fatigue, but he told me that I should lose 15-20 pounds and to try to cut down on the caffeine after the mid-afternoon.

So over the past two weeks, I've gone back to a much more sensible diet, with an emphasis on not eating until I'm stuffed, low sugar and no bad carbs. Bringing fruits and veggies for snacks instead of having cookies. I also have cut down my red wine consumption significantly.

Down just under 10 pounds in 16 days. Not exactly less fatigued yet, but feel a little more energetic in the mornings and my suits are starting to fit better. Ideally will lose another 10-12 pounds over the next couple of months.

 

Great job, Webster.

There really is nothing to it but to do it. Unfortunately, that's the hard part.

I've been trying to get myself to be more strict lately, too. I wouldn't mind dropping 15 pounds, or so, and am working on it.

 

Exactly -- you just want the effort to work out to count for something, but it doesn't make the time move any faster.

For me, it's avoiding bad breakfasts, bad snacks and bad desserts.

Going away with the family for 4 days next week and it's a pain to eat healthy. Good news is that because the four of us share one room, it's usually lights out by 9 and I'm asleep shortly thereafter, so early morning workouts are easy.

 

This is the second week my wife and I are on the 5:2 diet. NYT link here:  

It's pretty simple. Eat what you want for five days, then eat no more than 500 calories for two days. We're not talking "eat what you want" to mean we can pig out for 3,000 calories, but we're not obsessing about what we eat, either, although it has made us more conscious of what's on our plates We're trying to incorporate more vegetables into our meals, for one, and watch portion size. Last week, I found my appetite smaller after the two days and more easily sated.

At the gym, I tried simulating the stair climber that my gym doesn't have by cranking the treadmill to 15 degrees. I walked at 2 mph for a minute, then at 3 mph for a minute, getting as high as 3.6 mph on my last minute. Pretty good 24-minute workout. It's not exactly like the stair machine, but it's a decent approximation. I'll do that a few times, then to break it up I'll run on the treadmill or do the rowing machine.

And, phentermine.

 

Memo to all of you: I've found all your lost weight.

 

This is a very interesting article regarding a small but important and controlled case group involved with serious weight loss, and it jibes with much of what I learned and understood during my bariatric surgery journey. It's devastating, but makes some sense.

It explains a lot of the reasons weight loss and maintenance truly is an almost never-ending struggle.

After ‘The Biggest Loser,’ Their Bodies Fought to Regain Weight

 

A bit sore today, but proud that I finished the 12K/7.46-mile ramble through the hills of Spokane in 1:41.12. Considering I did way more weed pulling/yardwork than training in the past month, I'll take it. We started well back among the 46,500 competitors, with lots of walkers to dodge, but I jogged at least 75 percent of the course, stopping to walk at water stations and up a nasty, half-mile-long incline ("Doomsday Hill") five miles into the course.

Now we'll see if I can shift gears toward the pool ... my daughter is a high school swimmer and I've challenged her to complete a 1.75-mile lake swim with me in early August. If it happens, she'll have to wait quite a while for me to finish!

 

That was a fascinating story. Disheartening to some degree, but also very nice to have it confirmed that it's not some moral failing to find yourself putting a few pounds back on when you feel like you're doing everything right.