A while back I realized I weighed more than ever before in my life, so I decided to do something about it. I was basically eating too much and exercising too little. My clothes were all too tight on me - even the ones that had previously been ridiculously large. I felt fat and weak, and I didn’t like what I saw in the mirror.
So I made a wager with a friend, primarily to encourage each other to work out together.
After six weeks I’m down 6 1/2 pounds. (He only lost 1#, and as a result owes me the biggest greasiest hamburger lunch I can find!)
But I don’t want to stop here. I’d like to go down at least another 5, optimally 10-15. We have renewed our bet for another 6 weeks. Tho he weighed in last week 2 1/2# less than me, I am spotting him that as a head start and this time we are racing to the lowest number, rather than comparing pounds lost.
For me, I’m doing it almost entirely through exercise, tho I do on occasion manage to decline seconds (or at least make my second helpings and bowls of ice-cream non-gargantuan.)
Anyone else game?
Remember, in just a few weeks you are going to be pulling out all those spring and summer clothes you have had packed away for months…
I started my ‘program’ on Christmas Day, and my emphasis has been more toward fitness and physical competence than toward weight loss, but that is a secondary goal.
I’m running three times a week, and while the distances of my runs vary, the norm has crept upward from 0.6 miles to about a mile and a quarter. I’m also doing push-ups, sit-ups, and chin-ups before and after my runs, and doing those exercises on most days that I don’t run, too. Lately, I’ve occasionally been stopping at the neighborhood soccer field to mix in some wind-sprints with my running.
The running’s getting easier, and the number of push-ups and chin-ups I can do has increased appreciably.
My main dietary change has been to forego any real entree at lunch in favor of green salads, cottage cheese and fruit, and to drink more water and less soda. After 11 weeks, I’m down 4 pounds. (I was hoping to lose a pound every other week, so I’m a little disappointed in the pace, but c’est la vie.) I started at 193.5, and my goal is 170.
Sure, Dinsdale, I’ll bite!
I won’t say how much I have to lose, but it’s a lot. And I’ve had the most success in the past by exercising, but I’m also going to try to avoid my biggest downfall – cheese (mmm).
I have a body-fat scale and I was surprised that it went this high… time to push away the SDMB (for now) and start hiking.
I managed to pack about 15 pounds on this winter. I’m starting back on running and wind sprints this week, though, so if you notice me hobbling around the boards for a while, just pass me some Advil and a kind word.
I’ve started working about about 2 months ago. I started at 204lbs and now I’m up to 213. Granted I think that I’ve gained about 15 lbs of muscle though because I’m much stronger now. I’ve more than doubled my bench and curl weights. I’m finally able to bench my body weight which makes me really happy. Granted I don’t run any cause the weather hasn’t been good enough for it yet. But soon here I’ll be able to start running and if all goes well I’m thinking of trying out for my college’s football and baseball teams as a walk on. Also I’m starting to eat a little better now. I’ve cut out pop from my diet and taking a liquid mineral drink that makes me feel better. Just 6 months left until I can hit my goal of 230 lbs of lean mean muscle!
I’ve been (well, board permitting, anyway!) posting a thread each Monday entitled “Dieting Dopers Support Thread”. That’s where I just came from when I saw this thread.
Feel free to look for it each week and check in, gripe, celebrate, whatever.
Ogre, PHEW! For a moment there I was worried you’d pulled a hammie!
Thanks for the concern. No, I’m not injured yet (other than having my ankle stomped by a cleated foot yesterday, but I’ll get over it.) Pulling a hamstring would SUCK! Talk about packing the weight back on while it healed.
It is surely a sign from above -
I have a great fitness connection thru my local community education program - Denise is high energy aerobics teacher who teaches nights but this year all my nights have been shot to hell since the SO picked up a teaching gig 2x and I’ve sacrificed my Monday night workouts to take my two prima s to dance -
The waist line is expanding so I look into Curves for Women in town - I like the idea of a quick workout that is local but the apparatus leaves me wondering if its worth the 150 to join? NO!
But I hate it when the phone rings and I m about to post but it was Curves! Calling with an offer I couldnt refuse- bring in a bag of groceries and the membership is free! Then just 29/mo. I still havent tried the machines- apparently their machines aren’t designed to be adjusted for individuals you just sweat on it and get up and move to the next one.
Also
I swear too Im going to ride my Trek this year. As soon as the ice is off the road!- Ive got a chubby cheeks seat on it from Terry that loves me.
Tiki - that was what got me in trouble in the first place. I’m 41, and had weighed between 185-190 for the past decade or so. Was doing a lot of martial arts, and desired to increase my size and strength. Over the course of a year, I got up to 205, probably in the best shape of my life.
Then, a couple of injuries convinced me that it was taking too much out of me to compete at that level. Stopping fighting got me pretty down, and I stopped working out altogether. So the muscle turned to fat, and I added 10 more pounds.
Now that I am no longer trying to toss around 300# 20-year-olds, I would love to get back to a lean mean 190. Just losing that first 5# and getting into slightly better shape has the clothes fitting much better, and what I see in the mirror is beginning to resemble what I remember my body looking like.
Ogre, last fall a couple of guys I run with over lunch decided we should do windsprints one day. Man, were these 3 old farts hurting for certain after that. I have to get back into it.
There’s no better way to brutalize your body than windsprints…but my god, they pay off. You get strong fast doing them, and they do wonders for endurance.
True, they make it physically impossible to walk down stairs for a few days, but these sacrifices must be made.
I am not too bothered about how much I weigh, but more how much my stomach sticks out (too much at the moment).
I am watching what I eat and working out at the gym 5 or 6 times a week (mostly weights, but CV twice a week). I lost about 15lbs in just over a month last year (July) and so far I am down about 5lbs in a couple of weeks. I want to lose the stomach by the time I get married (in July this year hopefully).
I’ll keep checking back to see how things are going with y’all.
I have a question though, what are wind sprints? I think I can guess, but I thought I might as well ask.
I hate running, btw. I am not built for running at all.
Apart from losing the stomach, my other main goal is to increase my strength back to something approaching what I reached before. I am making good gains, which is nice to see.
Rick, wind sprints are the reason you find 300+ pound linemen in the NFL that can run a 5 second 40 yard dash. Try them a few times.
I run wind sprints on a football field. Start out at one goal line.
Sprint 100 yards to the other goal line, then sprint back.
Sprint to the 50 yard line and back.
Sprint to the 25 yard line and back.
Repeat with the 15, 10, and 5 yard lines.
Fall over, with spots before your eyes, and try not to puke. Rest for 15 minutes.
Repeat until wobbly.
If you like, you can start out by running to the 50 and back instead of all the way down, and work up to the whole field.
Be very careful to drink enough water AND to make sure you have enough salt/electrolyte in your system, and if you feel faint, STOP. Heat exhaustion is no fun.
Also, be careful on the cuts. ACL and MCL tears ain’t no fun either.
I usually find that I can run 5 or so miles with no problem, but two or three sets of wind sprints will leave me a quivering, gelatinous mess (for the first few times, until I notice that they are fantastic for my legs and are worth the pain.)
I’m sort of hitting the workout “reset button” for this spring. Over the winter I worked out every day, and now I weigh 40 lbs. less than I did when I was married a year and a half ago.
Then I got pneumonia
But now it’s time to restart.
35 lbs. to go, and I want to lose it before next fall
Ogre , thanks for the explaination. I used to do something like that when I did karate. We ran up and down the karate hall. I might give it a try but I think it would help to be a bit fitter first.
That is one of the major pain in the arse things about getting fit. It helps if you are reasonably fit to begin with.
Sure, I’ll join. I’m actually not in too bad a shape (5’ 9-10", ~160lbs, and for all of you confused, I’m a F). I know I’ve got fat I could lose, and I want to bulk up. I used to be a swimmer, and I loved having toned arms and back. My back is actually pretty nice.
I was just getting set to try a fitness program–tomorrow! So good timing! What do we do now?
I hit the dieting dopers thread on the temp board (as “The Lonliest Monk”) with my “story”.
I’ve since lost 4 lbs (2 weeks) and hope to continue the trend. The problem is that I eat rather well, but don’t exercise. With The Littlest Doper[sup]TM[/sup] needing lots of care, there isn’t much time left in the day to hit a program.
I have a VERY expensive wetsuit in my closet that will be nothing more than useless neoprene if I don’t drop 10 lbs or so!
This thread came along at just the right time: a few days ago I joined a fitness club and my initial fitness test is this coming Sunday. After that, I’ll know what I need to do and can make plans.
I’m a slightly-overweight sedentary computer-type guy, 38, who’s been flying a desk, so to speak, for the last fifteen years. I don’t have a car, so I get more exercise than some people while running for buses, trams, and trains. 175 cm (5’10"?)/85 kg (190 lb?)
My main goals are to increase flexibility, strength, and endurance. (I’ve a feeling I’m going to need them in ther future.) Losing a few kilos is a secondary goal.
Obviously no incredibly spectacular visible changes are going to happen in the first while–I’ve got too much work to do rebuilding the foundations, so to speak–but eventually I want to look less pudgy as well.
My counselor says that six months will be enough time to make a significant difference in general strength and fitness… that seems rather short; is this true?
I guess I second easy e’s question… what do we do now?
Fitness. It’s just another step in the Long March to rebuild our lives.
