anonplz

Almost there - started thirteenth of January - I've never been obese - I figure two more weeks, and I'm there. ^

Wow. Is this everyday?

annerj

So ~15% of your body weight lost to date? Awesome man! That is a big number.


No. I do p90x, spin, row, bike outside, bleachers, etc etc etc . I try to keep it pretty well mixed up.

This week (usually 1-2 of these slip and don't happen but my goal/perfect week looks something like):

Monday AM -- 45 minute row class
Monday PM -- P90x chest/back/abs

Tue AM -- outside bike ride (15 miler if the wind dies down)
Tue PM -- Plyo

Wed AM -- row/cross fit type class
Wed noon -- p90x shoulders/bis/tris/abs
Wed PM -- spin or bike outside

Thur AM --outside bike ride (15-20 miles)
Thur PM -- row race with brother in law

Fri AM -- 45 minute spin class
Fri PM - P90x Legs/back/abs

Sat am -- longer ride outside hopefully
Sat pm -- yoga

Sun AM -- ride outside or bleachers
Sun PM -- p90x stretch

anonplz

No, more like 9% - remember, the 1% in absolute terms declines each week as my overall weight does, so that since inception of the diet, my weight loss is a total of 9% of my starting weight.

For example, if I started at 200 lb., 1% would be 2 lb. 1% the succeeding week would be 1.98 lb. And so on.

annerj

9% still a very nice number! ^

I think 1%/week in terms of keeping it off will serve you well. Something like 75% of people who lose a large amount weight put it all back within 2-3 years (I can't remember the exact #s) and much higher % as the time line goes out. The problem that I see ancedoletly is people losing weight too quickly to sustain.

Keep up the good fight!

aztimm

You have to remember also that as you're losing weight, you're probably gaining some muscle. At least if you're running, cycling, lifting weights, swimming, etc. Pretty much most ways of losing weight (short of simply diet or surgery) will have some muscle gain.

As annerj notes, this isn't a one-off thing, it is a life-changing event. Keeping an eye on what you eat, getting in exercise, etc. Otherwise, the weight will creep back on.


When I first got into distance running some 3-4 years ago, I also tweaked my diet. My weight went from 190+ down to 155 in a few months. I had people asking if I was ok, my clothing went from fitting to way too big almost overnight. Since I don't run nearly as much now, my weight has stabilized a bit, closer to the 170-175 range, which I'm fine with. Plus cycling has really developed some leg muscles (some of my slacks are super tight over my quads, yet fit fine in the waist).

annerj

This is the problem I long to have.

I'm big upper body from a couple decades of lifting hard. I ignored legs when I was younger thinking that "what do you bench" was the only real question to ask....ugh. I hit legs hard and often now but they are still too small for my taste.

annerj

Some of the best advice I've ever been given:

"Don't do anything to lose the weight that you are not willing to do to keep it off".


I've been on a total of 1 diet in my life and it went just as I'd expect it to....wonderfully at first and terrible once off.

anonplz

Oh, yeah. Even when I'm dead tired, I at least START my workout - once I've started, I find I want to finish it without interruption. ^

Exactly.

Everyone has their own way that works for them - for me, it's essentially just swearing off the simple carbs as much as possible, with a few indulgences as desired. So, lots of protein and veggies, fat and dairy in reasonable amounts, moderate consumption of fruit - very limited refined grains, added sugars, potatoes, or bread.

aztimm

I headed up to Tempe Town Lake this afternoon for the Splash & Dash...
took this photo after I got checked in and got my stuff all ready:


(and since this is Flyertalk, that is the US Airways corporate office just across the lake, on the right)

it really was a beautiful day... lake temp was 75F, air temp was about 92F when we started (much better than Monday when the temp climbed to 102). low humidity, a bit of a breeze still (but breeze is good for running). I can't really complain much at all with conditions.

here's my write-up for the Splash:
Water temp was 75 and it felt fantastic to get in. My first o/w of the year, and I realized how much I missed it. Was 2 loops of a rectangular course, and I really wish I could have done another (and skipped the run). After the initial fray, I got behind a guy, tried to pass him, and he resisted, so I just drafted off of him for well over half of this. On the 2nd lap I somehow lost him. Was #9 overall for the swim, among those who did the 1500m swim and 5k run.

and here's my write-up for the Dash:
After getting out of the water, someone asked, "are you swim only," and I almost said yes. Took almost 2 min to transition, but oh well, I wasn't out to win the thing. That said, I didn't feel horrible... A friend of mine was doing this, I figured I'd be ahead on the swim, he'd pass me on the run, and I held him off until the halfway point Not a bad run, considering I've only run twice before this in the last 3 months, and both of those were this week (something to work on before the next race).
http://app.strava.com/activities/52036644

oh, and I also rode 46 miles this morning

annerj

This is my favorite part of your post

aztimm

haha, I figured you'd like that. I mostly took the ride pretty easy. It was very very windy, which certainly didn't help things and definitely made me slower than normal.
I was glad that the winds had mostly died down for the evening festivities. running in 92F with a bit of a breeze didn't feel too bad. especially while still wet at the beginning.

oh, I forgot to mention that I went to the gym on Wed for the first time in months. well doing something other than swimming at the gym.
I managed to eek out 3 x 6 pullups, with 5 sec horiz legs at the end of each round. after the first round I thought, "that wasn't so bad." but by round 3 I was thankful I had just picked 6 as my target.

anonplz

Yeah, that really is amazing. Good job.

It's supposed to be really nice here tomorrow, so I'm thinking I'm going to step up things a bit, just push, push, push.

It's weird - I so like my better shape, and really see it - I can even tuck in my polo shirts for the first time in years - but unless you know how out of shape I was before, I'm just another random guy on the street. At least when people laugh at me now, I know it's not because of my fat butt or double chin, lol.

annerj

Nice.

I always say that when people see me they probably think....wow I bet that guy was in GREAT shape a few years ago. I feel like I always look like the athelete that just started to let himself go.

aztimm

Do you swim too? There's some great o/w swims in NYC:
http://www.nycswim.org/

I did Statue of Liberty last year. Was signed up for Governor's Island the year before, but it got canceled. I'm hoping to do Little Red Lighthouse this year.
I'll definitely let you know, they always need kayakers if you're interested (unless you want to swim).

Katja

Did my first race of the season yesterday, a 5K. As the only female wheelchair racer, I came in first in my division and made back my entry fee in prize money :-).

Here's hoping we've seen all the snow we're going to see this spring.