Weight loss and weight management catch-all!

kaostheory wrote:

Starting Weight (12/28/13): 295.0
Previous Weight (11/18/14): 212.2
Current Weight (12/19/14): 219.8
Change: +7.6
Target Weight: 195
Progress: 75.2 / 100

New scale arrived yesterday.

I'm not sure I could really trust my previous readings. Maybe I gained 7 pounds last month, maybe not. There was a part of me that was worried my scale was really off for a while, and I would step on to 230+ and actually have not really met my previous goal.

With next week being Xmas, I don't have high hopes for losing much, but after Xmas - maybe New Year's - I'll be back on track.

Knowing is half the battle. Not knowing is the other half!

Having a good scale is nice but some fluctuation is totally normal even so. Gotta zoom out and look at the big picture (which it looks like you're killing, so congrats!)

Major kudos!

I sort of give up the entire holidays as a "cheat month." It's just how I live. I'm never going to eat carrots at the midnight feast, so might as well be realistic and plan for it, y'know?

So I don't think dieting will get me to lose what I need to over the next year. I feel that I need to get exercise going. Does an elliptical for 30 minutes 3 times a week sound like a reasonable starting goal?

manta173 wrote:

So I don't think dieting will get me to lose what I need to over the next year. I feel that I need to get exercise going. Does an elliptical for 30 minutes 3 times a week sound like a reasonable starting goal?

The issue with exercise is that it makes you hungrier.

30 minutes of cardio three times a week is great for general fitness, but don't expect it to do much for weight loss specifically.

Also, I find something like an elliptical kind of soulless and really boring. If you're cut out for it that's great, but I know I sure wasn't. Running, cycling, or swimming might be more engaging and easier to stick to.

kaostheory wrote:

Yesterday was the one year mark. It's been a bad week - sweets have been my bane. However, the big picture is fantastic.

12/28/2013: 295
12/28/2014: 225

If you would have told me a year ago that I would weigh 225, I would not have believed you. I've tried to lose weight so very many times. The idea that I might actually be successful was kind of laughable. But I have been successful and I'm super duper proud of that.

That's amazing! Congratulations on a successful year. Good luck on 2015!

I hesitated to answer, but gore has the right of it. The basic thing is to find an activity that you actually like doing, and then incorporate that into your weekly routine. I mean, if you like ellipticals, then that's fantastic; but few people do. Most find it a bit of a chore. That's a recipe for backsliding. You have to look forward to your exercise activity at least as much as you look forward to cracking open that latest RPG (or whatever game you're into).

An hour of hard cycling is actually amazing for burning calories because it engages very large muscles. However, it does make you hungry. You have to track calories and make sure you're at least not grossly exceeding what you're burning. That said, with an hour of hard cycling a day, you can get up to something like a 3000 calorie daily budget - great for hitting the buffet.

You don't have to lose weight to look great. Cardio certainly won't do it alone. A balanced schedule of cardio and 5x5 weight training will do wonders for your look and self-esteem in about 60 days.

I have found one way to make the elliptical fun. I set my Xbox up in front of it and I can play non-twitch games without any problems. Currently working my way through Dragon Age 2. It definitely motivates you to work out longer!

Since surgery on my foot in early December, I haven't been able to run and have been using an elliptical for cardio. I freaking hate it... It's not really a natural motion and it seems to take some bizarre voodoo ritual to get the resistance dialed in so I can get my heart rate up but not feel like my thighs are being tortured by the Spanish Inquisition. Plus, it's dependent on you to keep your pace. It's pretty easy to slack even a few strides a minute if you aren't keeping close watch. I miss running outdoors or even on a treadmill (which forces you to keep pace or off you go!)

I'm hoping to get back to running in the next week (more like two, foot still reminds me it's healing). I've been walking again and managing 4.2 mph on treadmill. Step count is getting back up to pre-surgery levels.

Holidays, birthday and surgery have not been kind to my weight management and I'm up about 10 lbs, though. First two and a half weeks of December I had no workouts and then strength training only due to the boot on my foot. I didn't make enough adjustments on my diet, but some of that holiday food was so good. The boot came off on the 18th and I was able to hit the stationary bike and elliptical. The bike caused saddle sores, which I decided I could live without, so that left the beast (elliptical). I'm back on a stricter intake and hope to drop this weight in a few weeks.

For cycling, padded Lycra shorts is a must. We certainly don't wear it for the look of the thing!

Thanks for the advice!

I normally get around 2000-2500 calories a day. As a guy who is 6'5" that should be appropriate, but it seems I am lucky enough to have hypothyroidism, and we are still working our my dosage levels. This means that to lose weight I have to stay under 1500/day which as my doctor said is 'ridiculous' for a guy my size. Fun part is, as we increase my dosage I get hungrier.

My main goal with the exercise is to just be able to keep the calorie consumption to where I can easily maintain due to the convenience factor and increase what I burn. I have an elliptical in the house, so that's what I mention using it, I hate it, but can park it in front of the big screen and watch tv. The wife and I have plans to start walking, but that will get cancelled a lot due to crappy weather this time of year and bad schedules. The elliptical is something I can do without changing my personal routine much. I normally get 30+ mins of tv to myself 3 times a week. I like lifting weights in general, but for now I want something that I know is easy to keep up with. If I have to go to a gym then I will probably not keep it up.

manta173 wrote:

The wife and I have plans to start walking, but that will get cancelled a lot due to crappy weather this time of year and bad schedules.

I highly recommend the walks with your wife. My wife and I have a dog, and I'm awful about going when she walks her, however, on the weekends during the Spring, Summer, and Fall we were really good about taking her for long walks. We would usually walk 5 miles in the morning an another mile in the afternoon. It was great for us to be outside, getting fresh air, burning some calories, and just having some quiet time to talk. We've been worse this winter for several reasons, but it's a really good habit to start.

manta173 wrote:

Thanks for the advice!

I normally get around 2000-2500 calories a day. As a guy who is 6'5" that should be appropriate, but it seems I am lucky enough to have hypothyroidism, and we are still working our my dosage levels. This means that to lose weight I have to stay under 1500/day which as my doctor said is 'ridiculous' for a guy my size. Fun part is, as we increase my dosage I get hungrier.

My main goal with the exercise is to just be able to keep the calorie consumption to where I can easily maintain due to the convenience factor and increase what I burn. I have an elliptical in the house, so that's what I mention using it, I hate it, but can park it in front of the big screen and watch tv. The wife and I have plans to start walking, but that will get cancelled a lot due to crappy weather this time of year and bad schedules. The elliptical is something I can do without changing my personal routine much. I normally get 30+ mins of tv to myself 3 times a week. I like lifting weights in general, but for now I want something that I know is easy to keep up with. If I have to go to a gym then I will probably not keep it up.

So I'm 6'1" 174 and maintenance for me is nearly 2600 calories. I'm struggling to kick these last five pounds, with a target of about 2100 daily (if I stuck to that it would be a pound a week loss, but the holidays you know...)

Now activity level does matter to an extent and this assumes I walk about 2 miles a day (which is not much and is achieved mostly incidentally and without any specific effort on most days). If I lay in bed all day and did nothing I would need 2000 for maintenance.

Everybody has a slightly different metabolism, but it's not wildly different so I'm really surprised at how low your budget is. You don't mention how much you weigh, but at 6'5" 200 would be a healthy weight, and such an individual should be using at least 2400 calories a day if sedentary.

Which is all to say: I'd consider investigating whether the process which led you to those numbers is accurate because, like your doctor, I feel that your target is dangerously low.

And for what it's worth, I don't think exercising enough to hit that many "net" calories per day is a great idea either. Exercise will make you very hungry. You should exercise because of the benefits of exercise, but it's not really a way to "earn" calories. After a half hour run I'm voracious.

It's the hypothyroidism. I have it too and can't lose unless I keep under about 1200 daily. It really messes with your systems, including metabolism.

On the plus side, you guys will do just fine in the coming Zombie Apocalypse when the food runs short.

LarryC wrote:

On the plus side, you guys will do just fine in the coming Zombie Apocalypse when you become food.

Fixed.

Well done everyone I will never admit to weight numbers as I am embarrassed I let myself get so heavy. Been fighting the autoimmune diseases ( yes more than 1) and was recently told I am insulin resistant aka diabetic. Probably genetic as are all the other issues. Once I got over being pissed off, I pulled it together and lost 40 pounds in about 2 months. My brother suggested 2 books titled Fat Chance: Beating the Odds Against Sugar, Processed Food, Obesity, and Disease by Robert H. Lustig, MD and Fat Chance: Beating the Odds Against Sugar, Processed Food, Obesity, and Disease by Mark Bittman. I share them because they are useful in understanding the biochemistry of metabolism and how shifting away from a mainly meat diet can help.

Official post holiday weigh in:

Height: 6'1" Start: 11/15/2012 | 250 lbs | 33 BMI | ~36% fat Previous: 11/09/2014 | 174.5 lbs | 23 BMI | ~14% fat Current: 12/31/2014 | 172 lbs | 22.6 BMI | ~14% fat Goal: 01/02/2015 | 170 lbs | 22.4 BMI | ~14% fat

Well I knew the holiday would be rough, but not that rough! Basically a wash over the last two months.

Of course I sure can't complain too much, but I'm so close to my target that I'd like to get on to maintenance budgeting. Being able to have a few more calories a day would be nice!

Back to the routine for now. Not much more, I hope, then to maintenance.

For anybody who's worried about adding some holiday pounds, try not to sweat it! I just saw this blog post about what real-life weight management success looks like over a 7 year period:

The fact that her loss is anything but a straight line is pretty damn normal because truly nothing in life is a straight line.

What's not normal, or at least what isn't common, is that year and a half segment from the fall of 2008 through the spring of 2010 where her weight pretty much stayed the same. Not that people's weights can't or don't stabilize, but rather that most folks who are trying to manage their weights tend to give up if the scale doesn't keep going down.

Of course had she given up back then she probably wouldn't have gone on to lose 50 more pounds and may well have regained the 35 or so she had lost before her weight first stabilized.

12/28/2013: 295
12/28/2014: 225
2015 Goal: 195
Previous (12/28/14): 225
Current (01/07/15): 222.2

Two two two dot two. That's a nice, fun number. After putting on some holiday weight, I'm working on getting back into the routine and losing weight again.

I've decided not to worry too much about pace. My goal for this year is to lose another 30 pounds and hit the 100 pound mark. At that point, I'll re-assess.

I've also decided to not worry about torturing myself by being concerned with winter exercise. It was -15 yesterday and snowed 3-6 inches last week. I can wait until Spring to try and build those habits. Better to try when I have the best chance of success rather than trying to "buckle down" and fail because of miserable conditions.

Maybe I'll set a goal next year to be better over the winter, but that's for 2016 me to figure out.

Today is my birthday! The big three zero. Looking back, I'm really happy with and proud of the progress I've made. This weekend involves some significant eating out. I'm giving myself a free pass to enjoy myself. Like the article gore posted just talked about, it's not about a weekly timescale, but a timescale that goes years or decades.

Starting Weight: 172
Goal Weight: 155

Alright, I'm joining too for some support/community. I've let things get a little crazy and haven't really tried losing weight since before I had my son...he's almost 2. I've lost a decent amount in the past (140 or so is my lowest weight) and have gained it back. So this time I am aiming for a manageable target for me long-term instead of a LOSE ALL OF THE WEIGHT approach. I want to keep it in the 150-55 range so I don't restrict myself to something that can't be maintained. I've been eating well for a week now and am already feeling better, so it's got me motivated to keep it up.

I seriously love food guys, so stick with me here.

Gogo healthy food choices! Might also want to check out the Fitness thread. There's some seriously scary monsters in there, but they're old people now so there's less epeening and more helpful advice. We're all about sustainable practices that fit people's lives and schedules.

We have a health center at work, and they offer a weight loss program. It's pretty small, 6 or 8 people I think, and I contacted them about joining last month only to find out it was full. I got a call last week informing me that someone dropped out leaving an open spot for me, and I couldn't be happier. It's a year-long program, with weekly group meetings and monthly individual meetings. It's a big commitment, but I feel like it will be really good for me. For the most part I know what I need to be doing to get fit, I just never seem to stick to it. My hope is that this accountability will be the kick in the pants that I need to be diligent about taking care of myself.

I have a fitness test on Monday to get a baseline of my starting health, the classes begin on the 20th. In the mean time I've been working on things some myself, I'm into week 5 of the Couch to 5K program (again!) and I've been good about not falling for the deep fried goodies that usually are my downfall. Hopefully I'll have plenty of progress to share with you all over the next 12 months.

Thanks Larry, I'll chech the fitness thread out. I'll need some more ideas for some things I can do at home. I really prefer to exercise outside (jog outside with the dog) but the cold and icy sidewalks take that option out for most of the winter. I've realized going to a gym is too much of a chore, so home workouts it will be for the next few months.

Fleabag, I may have gained back the weight from my weightwatchers at work program, but I kept the friends it was great for networking too. Good luck!

fleabagmatt wrote:

We have a health center at work, and they offer a weight loss program. It's pretty small, 6 or 8 people I think, and I contacted them about joining last month only to find out it was full. I got a call last week informing me that someone dropped out leaving an open spot for me, and I couldn't be happier. It's a year-long program, with weekly group meetings and monthly individual meetings. It's a big commitment, but I feel like it will be really good for me. For the most part I know what I need to be doing to get fit, I just never seem to stick to it. My hope is that this accountability will be the kick in the pants that I need to be diligent about taking care of myself.

I have a fitness test on Monday to get a baseline of my starting health, the classes begin on the 20th. In the mean time I've been working on things some myself, I'm into week 5 of the Couch to 5K program (again!) and I've been good about not falling for the deep fried goodies that usually are my downfall. Hopefully I'll have plenty of progress to share with you all over the next 12 months.

I wish we had anything like this at my work... but they always claim the company won't do it due to the cost of the liability insurance. (*cough* BS *cough*)

I have been thinking about a couch to 5k program or something similar to give the wife and I goals to work towards. Do you recommend anything specific? (A secret goal would be getting my wife ready for a longish hiking trip in May.)

Finally started the calorie counting at the beginning of the week.

Starting Weight: 320.6 1/5/15
Current Weight: 312.4 1/9/15
Goal for now: 250 (I know that is above the recommended weight for 6'5" but I remember when I was that weight and I think it is a good point for me.)

Really good first week even though I haven't kept it to strictly 1500... more 1500-2000... I think the Synthroid has helped in that regard even though I am not at my target levels.

Could use a little pep talk as I lost about 12 pounds over the summer and after taking a few weeks off in December I weighed in with my trainer to find I've gained 5 of them back. I know I hadn't been that good during the holidays but I didn't totally pig out either. Just turned 40 and have this sinking feeling that I can't do this, especially if it takes me months to lose and weeks to gain a whole bunch back.

jdzappa wrote:

Could use a little pep talk as I lost about 12 pounds over the summer and after taking a few weeks off in December I weighed in with my trainer to find I've gained 5 of them back. I know I hadn't been that good during the holidays but I didn't totally pig out either. Just turned 40 and have this sinking feeling that I can't do this, especially if it takes me months to lose and weeks to gain a whole bunch back.

Weight will fluctuate. 5 lbs is not a lot. I know it's a large portion of what you've lost, but in the grand scheme of things you can bounce around 1-5 lbs in a week depending on what you eat, how fast you digest and when you weigh your self. Holidays can be really rough as single meal can often have an entire days worth of calories. You've recognized where you are and what you need to do. You'll see it come back off as you get back on track.

Don't beat yourself up over 5, save that for if you gain more than the original 12 you lost.

This is the weight loss program that I'll be doing. The meetings are during the work day and I'm lucky that my boss told me that I can go to them on the clock. I would have used vacation time to do it, because I feel like it's important for me to do this, but it's nice that she is supporting me like that.

manta173 wrote:

I have been thinking about a couch to 5k program or something similar to give the wife and I goals to work towards. Do you recommend anything specific? (A secret goal would be getting my wife ready for a longish hiking trip in May.)

This is the program that I've used: http://www.coolrunning.com/engine/2/2_3/181.shtml

It has worked well for me, I've done it a few times now. I always manage to get myself up to the point where I'm out running 4 or 5 miles at a time, then life gets in the way and the next thing I know I've lost all that fitness I had built up. I use a gps heart rate monitor that I programmed the runs into so it beeps and vibrates to let me know when to run and when to walk, but I think you can program runkeeper like that as well. It's nice to not have to be constantly staring at something to know when to switch. Two important things that I've taken from the program are that 1. even if you feel like the early weeks might be too easy, do them anyway. Those initial base miles are important and it'll catch up with you eventually if you don't, and 2. Don't feel bad about repeating weeks if you get to a point where you're beyond your abilities. It's a 9-week program, but I don't know that I've ever done it in 9 weeks.

Good luck to ya, Manta.

jdzappa wrote:

Could use a little pep talk as I lost about 12 pounds over the summer and after taking a few weeks off in December I weighed in with my trainer to find I've gained 5 of them back. I know I hadn't been that good during the holidays but I didn't totally pig out either. Just turned 40 and have this sinking feeling that I can't do this, especially if it takes me months to lose and weeks to gain a whole bunch back.

I can say that gaining 5 pounds over the holiday is completely normal! It's getting cool outside, your routine gets disrupted, people are less active, and the culture is to load up on caloric meals? It's a recipe for weight gain!

Definitely do not stress the holidays at all. Everybody goes up and down all the time and five pounds is not much.

To give it some context: I have been at this for almost two and a half years now (25 months of actively tracking measurements) and am down about 75 pounds. Here's what the last couple of years look like for me:

IMAGE(http://i.imgur.com/MiEM7dw.png)
IMAGE(http://i.imgur.com/Y88i5uz.png)

You can't really see it simply due to the long time scale, but every year my weight loss stopped or slowed around the holidays and picked back up afterward. Keep your mind on the big picture and the little bumps will disappear

Deadmonkeys wrote:

Gonna try again.

Can I join you...

Starting Weight: 450 lbs (08/25/2012)
Last Week: n/a
Current Weight: 350 lbs (1/12/2015)
Change: n/a
10% Term Goal: 315 lbs by (03/01/2015)

To make this short, I am failing myself. I injured my shoulder in January last year, making my lifting routine impossible. I didn't start getting proper treatment until the summer, and didn't really feel better until late fall. That said, my lifting routine falling off the map sucked the motivation out of my mind completely. I haven't done any major exercise in a long while, and what I did do during this time was sporadic. My diet started to slip.

In mid-2012, I hit the height of my weight loss, having passed 100 pounds lost since I started trying to lose in 2010, putting me at 211 pounds. I have gained 50 pounds since then. It's come back slowly. 2012 was rough. 2013 didn't get any easier, and I closed out the year with reckless abandon at the holidays. By the beginning of 2014, I was 20 pounds heavier. At the beginning of 2015, I am 30 pounds heavier than that.

I'm not a happy person right now. Motivation is scarce. Even though the gym was a familiar place in 2012, I have been away so long that it's intimidating again. I've got no accountability.

I'm throwing away my progress. I'm filling out my clothes more and more. I am frustrated to the point of tears that I had to go buy some shirts a size larger or suffer the embarrassment of wearing tight, small clothing. Most of all, I don't know how to fix this alone.

Most of my major strides in progress came from an office-sponsored "Biggest Loser" competition. They're not doing that anymore. I need help or I'm going to end up destroying everything I worked for before I could even begin to enjoy it. None of my real life friends are doing anything that relates to fitness, diet, or exercise.

I guess what I'm looking for is an accountability partner - someone to help keep me on task. This would, of course, be reciprocal for anyone who wanted to help. I keep setting new start dates and getting ready to commit, but never follow through because there are no short term consequences for it.

Anyone who is willing to help... Please, PM me.

Starting Weight: 312 lbs

Current Weight: 259 lbs

Goals:
Under 200 by 2016
185 as a major milestone
175 as the magic number