quote:

Originally posted by 911Boss:

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Originally posted by r0gue:

Basically Hal Higdon's Novice plan is the least stressful way to get there. I've tried more rigorous plans, but at this point, I'm just trying to hold this baby together. So... This should be fine. I've used this a few times. Not so bad.

I would be hating Sundays pretty quick I just can’t run anymore, maybe a brief jog to get across the street before a car comes by but my knee with arthritis just won’t do it. Not walking as much now as the past few months due to the NW weather, but was up to 6-8 miles at a time at about a 2.7 mph pace.

I really prefer the bike, Peloton, or Rower though. More calories burned in shorter time and much easier on my bum knee.

Cycling and Swimming are way better for you anyway, when you consider the toll on the body. i used to bike a lot, but the hassle of gear, and the wind chill of speed on road in the winter, started me over to running during the winter. Eventually I just kept running through the summer.

I'm certain I'll have a Peloton one day too. I bought a rower last year, but haven't been able to really get into it yet. Maybe I should try again for my cross days.

Incidentally, that plan doesn't really start until about Christmas. Right now I'm just doing one run a week for the most part. I'm trying to drop the pounds to reduce the effort that will be needed to hold my L4/L5 together, and also to reduce stress and effort overall. Don't run a marathon with a 20 pound dumbbell strapped to your waist if you don't have to.

Day 2 under the belt, no sugar, no alcohol, and very low carb. Day three ahead.

I never ran a marathon (or even a half) in terms of races, but I have done 3 Ultras with longest at 100. That plan looks good to me if the goal is to complete a marathon with a low chance of injury both in the train up and event with minimal time spent running. I like that it takes the long runs up to 20mi.

Personally, I’d bump the weekly mileage up a bit by making any 3 mile runs 4-6 after a few weeks. Wouldn’t add a day or much additional time since your out running anyway.

Thought I would share a small success story…

In November of 2020 I was just starting out on Peloton and completed Kendall Toole’s 45 Minute Metallica Ride.

About a year later in 2021 I did it again…still work to do, but I am pleased with the overall improvement and efficiency in key metrics:

Oct 2020
Body weight: 307 pounds
Avg HR: 141
Output = 109kj
Dist = 5.1 miles
Cal = 147
Output = 60 watts
Cadence= 66 RPM
Avg Resistance = 30%
Avg speed= 11.5 mph

Nov 2021
Body weight: 267 pounds
Avg HR: 134
Output = 267kj
Dist = 11.35 miles
Cal = 359
Output = 99 watts
Cadence= 80 RPM
Avg Resistance = 37%
Avg speed= 15.1 mph

Congratulations, Ronin1069!

I've been struggling to get back on-track ever since being out of the gym from the end of February, 2020, until we Michiganians were freed sometime in late 2020 (?).

I keep re-starting, then falling off the wagon again.

Getting re-started again. I'm not even going to pretend to start the diet I really need to do right now. Not at this time of the year (Though I am working to keep my excesses to a minimum.) But I am on Week Two of a full strength-training schedule and getting sore again

Plan is to get back up to full speed at the gym--perhaps even incl. at least one day of cardio, then hit the ground running after the first of the year, and add a fat-loss diet.

How familiar are you guys with “planking”. I’ve just started and currently do 3 sets of 30 seconds with a 1 minute rest between sets. Ultimately I would like to build up to 5 sets of 1 minute each.

Some folks swear by them; I don’t know that they are the magic bullet to fitness, but I do feel as if my midsection feels tighter even though I have not lost much weight in the past few weeks.

Figured I would go ahead and contribute my story.

Going way back to high school, I played football as a 195 lb offensive tackle. Joined the Army, ended up in ROTC and dropped to around 175 while I was in. I'm 5'9".

Got out of the Army, had kids, started civilian life working 60-80 hours a week and weight crept back up to over 200, peaking around 225-230 15 years or so ago before settling back to around 205-210 and staying pretty steady there for the past 10 years.

Mid 50's now, started losing weight back in the summer, got down to about 190 then had a Dr. check up/lab work in October. Wake up call. Strict low carb/sugar and exercise routine begun immediately - that was October 15. Had to get blood sugar down.

Started the 'Couch to 5K' running program and also walked a couple miles during lunch. Then got a water rower and added in rowing 15-30 minutes every day. Added in a bench a couple weeks ago and adjustable dumbbells and broke out the old jump rope to start a 12 week dumbbell training routine.

Dr. visit today - 165lbs. - lowest I've weighed since probably Junior High School. Will probably drop another 5-10, but doc said I was fine where I'm at. Blood sugar is back well below where it needs to be, but this will be a battle that does not end. I have had a life long sweet tooth, but I can say the strict Keto type diet I have been on has worked well and I have no cravings.

Continued success to all who are striving to get there, hang in there and keep pushing!!

There is a lot of motivation, inspiration, education, and feel good in this thread. I only wish I'd come across it sooner. Maybe by posting here it can kick-start it to continue & motivate someone else.

As sad and embarrassed as I am to post this, accountability is helpful so I'm hoping that I can find that here as well.

My name is John. I'm a fat ass. I'm 57 years old (be 58 in July) and I've let life just have its way with me physically in the last few years. Like others here have posted, weight has always been a challenge for me ever since 4th or 5th grade. Even during my time in the Marines I was never the "poster boy" Marine. I was within their standards but always at the high end of them.

27 years later I've had the typical ups & downs with weight but it's never really troubled me physically. At 48 I started CrossFit and did that for 4-5 years which I enjoyed. But rather than bore you with my life's saga, let me tell you where I am today.

I am 5'11" and my weight is approximately 290 (I say approximately because I avoid a the scale like the plague, and happiness is bliss). In the last 6-9 months I've noticed more "health" issues such as higher BP, easily fatigued & winded, less motivation, clothes getting tighter, etc.. I don't want to live the rest of my life like this. My wife say she loves me just the way I am but I am disgusted with myself when I look in the mirror. I owe it to myself, her, my 23 y/o daughter and my future grandchildren to get this turned around NOW! I'm hoping my Sig Forum family might provide the accountability I need. (I'm not 911 Boss or Arnie or many successful others here but I have to say everyone's inspires me).

Unlike others who jumped into this thread 2, 3, 10 weeks into their journey, for me this is Day 1. I just started. Today. I'll weigh myself tomorrow but that will just be one factor of success. How I feel/look will be the best indicator.

I'm looking forward to posting updates here and I'll ask for you all to hold me accountable to posting them regularly here (at least monthly if not more). I mean it. Please.

Thanks.

For what it's worth, walking/running 4-5 miles 5-6 times a week on hills and lifting weights every other day have snapped my own fat lazy ass back in shape. Lost about 60 lbs the first eight months and have maintained that for a couple years. At 72 I'm about as fit as I've ever been. The first 8 months no sugar, caffine, alchohol, snacks, junk food, etc. Three meals a day, mostly vegetable and a little protien. Now I eat or drink what I feel like with reasonable moderation. What inspired me, other than looking like a doughboy, was a minor stroke. My wake up call

Way to get started Mojo!

I was up to 271 back in July. I started July 16th and as of this past Friday I was down to 213. I have not been that light in 20 years.

I have went from a 38/40 waist to 34 and almost ready for 32. And not only to do look better, but the way I feel is incredible. No more sugar sluggishness.

It has been mentioned before in this thread, but read Obesity Code by Dr. Jason Fung. It is a life changer.

quote:

Originally posted by holdem:
<snip>It has been mentioned before in this thread, but read Obesity Code by Dr. Jason Fung. It is a life changer.

I fell off the motivation train and gave 10 pounds back. I’m very disappointed in myself. Thank you for the recommendation for this book, I literally just download it now and am going to begin reading it on my kindle.

quote:

Originally posted by Ronin1069:

I fell off the motivation train and gave 10 pounds back. I’m very disappointed in myself. Thank you for the recommendation for this book, I literally just download it now and am going to begin reading it on my kindle.

Way to get back on the horse and looking forward to your thoughts on the book.

New month, and Friday is my official weight in day.

Back on 12/3 I came in at 222.2 lbs. I completely stagnated through the holidays, hitting a plateau right at 50lbs of total weight lost. Fast forward to 1/28 and I was at 221.4. The good news is I did not gain over the holidays.

But in Feb I was able to break through the plateau and am now down to 212.2 and a total of 59.4 lbs lost.

The last few months I've been very inconsistent with my weight lifting in general and my deadlifts specifically. However, I have been making a concerted effort to simply do machine hamstring curls 3 times a week on the advice of my CAT to help address a years old strength disparity due to an injury to my left hamstring.

Wednesday I was able to sludge a 525lb deadlift to lockout, which ties my best ever that I managed early 2021. The reason I find this notable is because back then I was very consistent with deadlifts, hitting them 3 times a week, for months, to get that 525.

So nailing that big lift Wednesday was a surprise to me and welcome encouragement that perhaps the hamstring curls are helping.

I haven’t update in a while. I need to motivate myself so good idea to post here again.

I haven’t done badly but could be better. Started at 238ish lbs last year when the doctor wanted me on BP meds and suggested diabetes and cholesterol meds coming soon. I went very low carb and one meal a day. By July I was just under 200lbs. Got married in July and over honeymoon went up to 205. Stagnated there and gained more between holidays and vacation last week. I was up to about 214.

I hit my low carb and one meal a day hard this week. Back under 210 today. I gotta keep this up. I usually don’t lose over weekends as I like my cocktails and dinners out. But I’m gonna stick this out and get to 190.

Best wishes to all of you working to improve your health by getting your weight down.

This is a great motivational thread for me. With intermittent fasting, being more conscious of not only what but also how much I'm eating, and finally getting some mild (at least for now) exercise, I'm moving on the right path.

I come from a household where you weren't allowed to leave the table until you ate everything on your plate. Also, Mom never liked cooking and to her it was just another chore and our meals were very basic - it didn't help that she got on the 1970's health kick with carob, wheat germ, alfalfa sprouts, etc. - so if when the opportunity to eat anything with better flavor and quality presented itself, us kids took advantage of it because eating out was a rare happening when we were growing up.

I remember being hungry all the time. We weren't starved, it's just that we didn't get snacks. Once a meal was done, that's all the food you were getting until the next meal.

Unfortunately when I was able to be on my own I made up for my perception of being food deprived and ate as much as I wanted, when I wanted. Changing those habits is really difficult - especially the memory of being so hungry between meals and wanting to eat and eat. It takes a lot of willpower to tell myself "you ain't gonna starve, fat boy.)" (5'11" 250lbs) and ignore any mild hunger and desire to instantly fill the perceived void.

Although with the fasting, and other actions above, I'm doing better than I was I still have a long way to go and this thread is a big help when I read the success of many here, and also of how some experience similar difficulties as I do and how they overcome them.

A long-winded way of saying thanks to Arc for starting this thread, and to everybody that's posted to it to keep it going!

It has been a while since I posted in this thread, glad to see others have been keeping it going and congrats to all on your progress.


Dec/Jan/Feb I was kind of stagnant and even gained back a few pounds getting close to 210 before cracking down in March and getting back on track. In January I sold my Peloton and bought a NordicTrack bike since I have over three years of pre-paid iFit subscription and paying for a Peloton subscription as well was just silly.

I am really liking the NordicTrack bike and iFit cycle training better than the Peloton. Admittedly Peloton is a little more polished, but iFit is geared toward s’more virtual outdoor rides instead of studio experience.


**ONE YEAR PROGRESS REPORT***



One year ago today I weighed 345 pounds and began an amazing journey. I had tried (and failed) many times over the years to lose weight. I would see short term improvement, but then slip back into my old habits and ways, only to gain the weight back and sometimes more.


In 1990 when I got out of the Marines, I weighed 200 lbs (19 lbs overweight by USMC standards) and began a gradual increase, reaching a high of 380 pounds at one point.

I went from “overweight” to “obese” to “morbidly obese” and ultimately “super morbidly obese”. At some point I had just resigned myself to always being grossly overweight.

A number of things came together to make really think about my health, mortality, quality of life, etc. I realized that I had to do something drastic and finally put the effort needed into changing habits and lifestyle. No surgery, drugs, commercial program - just old fashioned change to eating habits and exercise. I didn’t deny myself anything, just portion and impulse control along with educating myself on how the body works and processes what we eat.


Today, one year later, I have lost 150 pounds or 43.5% of my starting weight. I am still 10 pounds from my goal of 185, but pretty damn proud of the 150 pounds of me that no longer exist. I am now just ”overweight” by BMI standards, but that is a hell of a lot better than I was a year ago.

At 59, I feel better and am in better physical shape than I was in my 20’s. It amazes me that at the age of 59 I did a 60 mile bicycle ride a couple weeks back, took me 4.5 hours (Mtn Bike gearing, not road bike) with only 5 minutes of stop/rest time.

I am looking forward to continuing a healthy lifestyle and doing the outdoor things I have missed out on for so many years. Hiking, Camping, Fishing are now all on the table for my retirement.



My journey (so far) by the numbers:

52 weeks working out at least once a week
317 days with at least one workout
558 hours of exercise
1168 workouts
6493 miles logged
609,234 exercise calories burned

Pants size
Start - 50, Current - 34 or 36 depending on style

Gym Shorts
Start - 3X, Current - M

Shirt Size
Start - 3x, Current - M or L depending on style


A couple upcoming goals:

June 8th will mark one year straight I have closed all three rings on my Apple Watch (Active Calories/Exercise Minutes/Stand Hours)
June 19th will mark one year straight that I have done at least one exercise bike (Peloton/NordicTrack) ride. Even on the days I am able to ride my “real” bike, I still get an indoor bike ride done. At this point it is a matter of principle.


Folks, it is NEVER too late to start. Life is full of set backs. If you slip, just wake up and move forward the next day. We can’t change the past, but we can change our future.

Dude! Fantastic work! You have a lot to be proud of.

911boss; super … so well done!

Way to go, 911Boss! Inspirational!