The Officialish FOFC Weight Loss Dynasty

[DaddyTorgo]

Originally Posted by Dodgerchick

188.6

We had a sub for the Y10X class. I really hate the pushup position and pulling both feet forward at the same. Fuckin hate it. Too much stuff moving around and getting in the way. I felt dizzy a few times and had to stop. Hate that I couldn't push myself. The trainer gave me props when class wS over. Everyone in there is in pretty decent shape and here I am at almost 70 lbs. overweight.

Aww....it's okay DC. You'll get there - perseverence is the key.

BIG HUGS!!

I feel ya. It's funny - I never really considered my weight before, but since I decided to lose this all, I notice it more often - and not in a good way. But I think that's partially a good thing.

Last night I went for the cookies after dinner to have a couple snackwells vienna fingers (140 calories for 2). Pulled out the package, opened it up, and stopped myself. Yay me!!

My inner monologue was like: "No fatass. Stop. You don't need the cookies, you just want them. Have a glass of water and a lil half-bowl of lite popcorn instead."

And it worked. That little victory...made me so proud.

It's those little victories that life is made up of. Cherish them. Use them as motivation and self-reinforcement.

[Dodgerchick]

OK, finally caught up in the thread. *You all are doing great, keep up the good work! *DT, you're not preachy at all, I like re-reading your posts, they help a lot. *So eh, how do u know if you're dehydrated?

So my new favorite breakfast - old fashioned oatmeal soaked overnight. *It's almost like eating rice pudding, it's fantastic. *My recipe:

1/2 cup old fashioned oatmeal
1/2 cup of skim milk (or more if u dont like the consistency)
1/8 (more or less, depending how many u want)
couple dashes of cinnamon

Put all ingredients in a bowl and stir. *Cover with saran wrap if ya want. *Oh and no sugar, its sweet enough with the raisins. *The milk soaks up the oats and it makes for a sorta creamy consistency.

My 9 year old likes putting yogurt. *Really u can put anything in it, oatmeal is so versatile. *This blog post has tons of ideas if any of u are interested: *Tribute To Oatmeal *some of these seem like desserts but u get the idea.

[Dodgerchick]

Hmm dunno why these asterisks show up, I used the notes application on my iTouch and pasted it here.

[Eaglesfan27]

Social life is not good for my diet, but is good for my overall outlook. Despite cheating on the diet 2 days this week, I still lost 1.5 lbs so I can't complain.

Exercise: 22-26 miles on the exercise bike 5 days this week.
Diet: 1200 calories or less when I wasn't cheating.
Wt: 213 (-1.5 lbs and -50 overall since I started!)

[Dodgerchick]

Inspiring, nicely done!!

[Dodgerchick]

188.0

Day off. Gonna see if I can triple up tomorrow -pilates, bodycombat, and yoga. I have to eat a good healthy breakfast an apple isnt gonna cut it.

[whomario]

Very much looking to get back into shape myself. No "method" yet figured out, but as a first step signed up at a gym nearby for a 6 month period (with it getting winter and all) ...

Had to quit soccer due to a serious ankle injury 2 years ago, then moved and then moved again and after getting another doctors opinion and new treatment recently i finally feel like i could give it another try and am also looking to settle in the area now. Problem is that i put on quite a bit of weight since quitting, lost a bit and then gained some more (rinse and repeat)

The one thing that is both a positive and a negative is that i did that whole routine once before 4/5 years ago. So i know what it will take and that it can work for me but i also know how tough it will be ...

I don´t plan on doing any sophisticated dietary method or any fully planned exercise as i simply know i can´t do that (but again, since i did it before i figure i can do it again), much less now where i´m also learning spanish.
Obviously i´ll set myself eating limits and pick certain days as gym-days and go on my bike on the weekends, but i won´t beat myself up over choosing to do sth else.

I´m currently at 187 Pounds and my goal is getting this to 165 as a first step and at that time i would hopefully start to get regular workouts from soccer practice again. Ultimately i want to get back to about 155 which is what i weighed when i injured myself.
Maybe a little bit different numbers should i by some miracle actually add some muscle in the process (which i highly doubt and don´t nescessarily desire)

Question : Does anybody have any good advise on loosing weight without running ? I´d like to do mostly execises that don´t put too much stress on my ankle (and also my knees) until i´m down quite a bit, i didn´t last time and ended up having trouble with those areas for a while. Would mostly do gym-stuff (minus the treadmill ) but also go out on my bike (nice new sports-type bike i bought last year) and do some indoor-swimming.

Any groundrules/ballpark numbers on theese sort of activities ? Anybody did it this way ?

[Blackadar]

First of all, congratulations to everyone in this thread. Keep up the awesome work and take time to be proud of your accomplishments.

My own story is that I grew increasingly sedentary the last few years, culminating with the birth of my daughter a year ago. I gained a huge amount of weight. So I decided about 7 months ago to work it off. I'm down around 35 pounds (still a lot more to go) and fitting into clothes I haven't worn in 4-5 years. My chest size is back over 50 too...so I'm getting bigger in the right areas and smaller in others.

Here are some things that have worked for me thus far:

1. Switched from diet soda to water. Diet soda gives me the munchies. Switching to plain old water curbed my appetite and made me feel better - no upset stomach, less gassy, etc. I don't miss the caffeine and now can't stand the taste of a Coke (though Sierra Mist is quite nice). In fact, I've gotten rid of virtually all so-called branded diet food in place of fresh fruits, nuts, raw veggies, etc.

2. Cardio Power Fitness Music | Download Workout | Cardio Music Workouts | Cardio MP3 Downloads for iPods If you're on a treadmill, elliptical, jogging, stairmaster, bike, whatever....go to that website and start buying their MP3s. It's the best workout encouragement you'll ever find and they'll make you workout harder. The workout times go from 32 minutes to over an hour, so there's something for everyone. Seriously, do yourself a favor and check these out.

3. Italian Ice. I love ice cream, but it's hugely fattening. I've switched to Italian Ice (100 calories a cup) and so I still get my sweet fix without sacrificing my diet. Considering they're already in little cups, you have calorie and portion control without sacrificing enjoyment.

4. Set smaller goals, no more than 30 days out. I didn't want to look too far ahead, because I knew (know) it's a long, hard road. I needed to not get ahead of myself. So I celebrated every 30 days of working out. Only two months ago did I start one of those 90 day programs because I built up the workout habit. It's too hard to try to lose 30, 50 or 100 pounds, but you can focus on losing 5 pounds this month. It's so much easier mentally.

5. Working out at 5:00 AM. Yes, it still sucks to get up that early. But with a wife and two kids, that's the only time that can (almost) always be all mine. No interruptions, no interference. So now I wake up, throw on the workout clothes and workout prior to my morning shower. So rather than trying to figure out what time I have to workout, it's just part of that morning routine. It's become a habit and makes it much easier to continue to workout consistently.


Anyway, keep up the awesome effort guys (and gals)! And keep posting your successes...your accomplishments are inspiration for others!

[sabotai]

Originally Posted by Blackadar

1. Switched from diet soda to water. Diet soda gives me the munchies. Switching to plain old water curbed my appetite and made me feel better - no upset stomach, less gassy, etc. I don't miss the caffeine and now can't stand the taste of a Coke (though Sierra Mist is quite nice). In fact, I've gotten rid of virtually all so-called branded diet food in place of fresh fruits, nuts, raw veggies, etc.

A side effect of artificial sugar is an increase in hunger (or so I've read). After switching from ice tea to Crystal Light, I noticed I was hungry a lot (thought it was just a lack of calories), but read some articles on this. Also had a lot of heart burn too, so I'm pretty much on just water now. I was mainly using Crystal Light as a way to help me get from sugary drinks to just water, the hunger and heart burn just sped up that conversion.

[Alan T]

Originally Posted by sabotai

A side effect of artificial sugar is an increase in hunger (or so I've read). After switching from ice tea to Crystal Light, I noticed I was hungry a lot (thought it was just a lack of calories), but read some articles on this. Also had a lot of heart burn too, so I'm pretty much on just water now. I was mainly using Crystal Light as a way to help me get from sugary drinks to just water, the hunger and heart burn just sped up that conversion.

I still drink 2 diet sodas a day, but water the rest of the time. My problem is that I just can't tolerate water with my meals. I just can't wash down my food with water. It creates a gag reflex for me and gets me physically sick of my stomach. I'm sure it is just a mental roadblock for me, but I need something to drink with my meals. Since I don't drink alcohol much, and don't drink coffee or tea, I just drink one soda with each meal.

[Alan T]

Originally Posted by Blackadar

4. Set smaller goals, no more than 30 days out. I didn't want to look too far ahead, because I knew (know) it's a long, hard road. I needed to not get ahead of myself. So I celebrated every 30 days of working out. Only two months ago did I start one of those 90 day programs because I built up the workout habit. It's too hard to try to lose 30, 50 or 100 pounds, but you can focus on losing 5 pounds this month. It's so much easier mentally.

I did it even a shorter period than that. I split up my time in 2 week chunks. I basically said that I wanted to lose 2 pounds every 2 weeks. At first it was easy, just cutting out the various bad habits caused me to lose alot of weight at the beginning. When it became hard was when I plateaued out after the initial weight loss.

I dropped from 263 to 235 in no time at all. With better diet and exercise it went really fast. Getting from 235 to 230 seemed a huge chore for me, and my entire way through the 220s felt like agony.

I just kept chugging along though, aiming for 2 pounds every 2 weeks (pretty close to your 5 pounds a month), and it slowly trickled off. For some weird reason, I actually found losing weight in my 210-220 range far easier. Not sure why that was though. It's slowed down a little bit now though. I sometimes feel I'm getting complacent and don't really feel as pressing of a need. I just need to keep chugging away though.

[RainMaker]

Originally Posted by whomario

Question : Does anybody have any good advise on loosing weight without running ? I´d like to do mostly execises that don´t put too much stress on my ankle (and also my knees) until i´m down quite a bit, i didn´t last time and ended up having trouble with those areas for a while. Would mostly do gym-stuff (minus the treadmill ) but also go out on my bike (nice new sports-type bike i bought last year) and do some indoor-swimming.

Any groundrules/ballpark numbers on theese sort of activities ? Anybody did it this way ?

I spent a couple hundred dollars and purchased a stationary bike for home. I was amazed at the quality and how crazy quiet they are. It's been real low impact and with the resistance settings I can get a solid workout and monitor my heart rate throughout (mine tracks it on the handlebars).

The beauty of it is that with how quiet it is, I can watch TV while riding. I usually fill up my DVR with shows and workout for the duration of one full show while fast-forwarding through commercials. Ends up being about a 45 minute bike ride which is plenty of cardio for the day. I've slowly been increasing the resistance on a bi-weekly basis and finding my legs to be getting stronger and stronger.

It's not the best full-body workout out there, but I'd highly recommend picking up a bike since it's cheap, low impact, and can be done while watching TV or even playing a video game.

[RainMaker]

Originally Posted by Alan T

I still drink 2 diet sodas a day, but water the rest of the time. My problem is that I just can't tolerate water with my meals. I just can't wash down my food with water. It creates a gag reflex for me and gets me physically sick of my stomach. I'm sure it is just a mental roadblock for me, but I need something to drink with my meals. Since I don't drink alcohol much, and don't drink coffee or tea, I just drink one soda with each meal.

I'm in the same boat. I have to have something flavorful while eating. I've limited myself to drinking diet soda during meals and that's it.

For those against artificial sugars, there are some drinks like Sobe Zero that uses natural ones like Stevia. No calories and not bad taste.

[Alan T]

Originally Posted by RainMaker

I spent a couple hundred dollars and purchased a stationary bike for home. I was amazed at the quality and how crazy quiet they are. It's been real low impact and with the resistance settings I can get a solid workout and monitor my heart rate throughout (mine tracks it on the handlebars).

The beauty of it is that with how quiet it is, I can watch TV while riding. I usually fill up my DVR with shows and workout for the duration of one full show while fast-forwarding through commercials. Ends up being about a 45 minute bike ride which is plenty of cardio for the day. I've slowly been increasing the resistance on a bi-weekly basis and finding my legs to be getting stronger and stronger.

It's not the best full-body workout out there, but I'd highly recommend picking up a bike since it's cheap, low impact, and can be done while watching TV or even playing a video game.

I own an actual bike and only had room for one piece of exercise equipment, so decided not to get a stationary bike myself. (If I had extra space, i definitely would have though for sure). I had knee issues and knee pains when I was heavier too, and the doctor recommended I try an elliptical trainer instead. It puts less stress on your knees (not sure if it helps ankles or not though) and it works great for me. The elliptical trainer is definitely noisier than a stationary bike though, but I think it is because mine is not a super expensive one. The ones in the gyms seem to be quieter.

[Dodgerchick]

Welcome fellas! I'm looking forward to reading your journey and getting pointers on what has worked for you all.

Weight - 188.2
Goal Weight - 120
Exercise - Body Combat (-798 calories) and Yoga

Yesterday was supposed to be my day off but Antmeister and our 6 year old wanted to do Wii's My Fitness Coach 60 minute core workout and I joined them. I really hate any kind of core exercises because my midsection is extremely weak, but it has to be done. I can see muscles fighting through layers of fat on my legs and it's awesome. I don't wanna have kick ass legs but flabby arms or stomach. The core workouts were hard and it hurt.

Today I went to Body Combat and Yoga. Hadn't done BodyCombat in over 3 weeks because of how strenuous the Y10X workouts have been so I gave it a shot. Man it felt great. Yoga was super hard because I expended so much energy on BC. I couldn't keep some of the poses so I had to adjust. There's this pose called the frog that frieken killed me. It looks like this:


Looks easy right? The hard part for me was keeping my feet pointed outward while sticking my butt as far back as I could. The yoga instructor said this pose has made her cry (probably a bit of an exaggeration) and we were like that for like 2 minutes and when it was over... it hurt. When yoga was over we do balance and stretching exercises, meditate and lay down on our side. While laying down I looked in the mirror and noticed there's a curve forming above my waist. It's sad, I've been overweight for so long that I'd never seen it before. I've had a shirt hanging in my closet for years and I finally tried it on and it fits. Nice to see the hard work finally paying off.

[Dodgerchick]

late dola,

My goal is to reach 170 lbs. by the end of the year. We have about 12 weeks left which means I need to lose 1.5 lbs. a week. Totally doable, I just have to keep my food intake on check. Tonight, for example, I'm going out with some gal pals and the food theme is appetizers and desserts. Hmmm. Its hard to push away some good food. I almost feel like taking a small plate to lessen how much food will fit, if that makes any sense. Everytime I go to these get togethers the hosts put out these monstrous plates and I tend to fill 'em up. Last month they put out tiny plates and I barely put anything on there which caused me to eat less.

[DaddyTorgo]

Way to go DC!!!

[DaddyTorgo]

Whoops, time for a update!!

Week 2 ended 10/4.

Weight: 256
BMI: 34.7%
Body Fat: 39.9%
Skeletal Muscle %: 27.70%
Resting Metabolism: 2,214
Body Age: 78
Visceral Fat: 16

[DaddyTorgo]

Great results tonight (10/7)

Weight: 255.2
BMI: 34.6%
Body Fat: 39.20%
Skeletal Muscle %: 28.20%
Resting Metabolism: 2213
Body Age: 77
Visceral Fat: 16

[DaddyTorgo]

Down 6lbs in 17 days. Not bad.

And when I weighed myself this morning I was 253 (although that's not an "official" weight. So that was sweet.

[RainMaker]

Originally Posted by Alan T

I own an actual bike and only had room for one piece of exercise equipment, so decided not to get a stationary bike myself. (If I had extra space, i definitely would have though for sure). I had knee issues and knee pains when I was heavier too, and the doctor recommended I try an elliptical trainer instead. It puts less stress on your knees (not sure if it helps ankles or not though) and it works great for me. The elliptical trainer is definitely noisier than a stationary bike though, but I think it is because mine is not a super expensive one. The ones in the gyms seem to be quieter.

I would have loved an elliptical but they were more expensive and didn't quite have the room for it. I sometimes wish I had found a way to get one as while biking gives me a good workout, I feel like I'm wasting a bit of it by not doing anything for my arms.

[RainMaker]

I posted this in the other thread but seeing as how I missed this and everyone is using this, here it goes:

About 5 months ago I was in some photos during a family get together. Someone sent them out to everyone and I took a look. Wow, I had gotten fat. Now I knew I had gotten out of shape and had been determined at some point to knock the weight off. But I was lazy and always pushed it to the side. I mean as long as I was in my twenties, who cared about some extra weight. But the steady addition of 5 or so pounds a year since I started college had really added up and not only was I embarrased and ashamed, I was starting to feel the effects on daily activities.

Fast forward to today and I'm down around 40 pounds. Knocked off two full jean sizes and have increased my overall strength. I still have a ways to go to where I want to be at physically, but I feel a million times better than before. I picked up a 40 pound weight today and it's amazing how much it weighs. I feel a million times better and clothes are fitting so good now.

I've been doing a mix of weights and cardio. Bought a stationary bike off Amazon and use it 4-5 days a week. Give about 40-50 minutes on it and try to keep my heart rate over 135 throughout. I've also been lifting 3 days a week. I bought these things called PowerBlocks (PowerBlock - World's Best Dumbbell) along with a cheap bench and have been doing a primarily dumbbell based workout. I take it serious and have actually seen some substantial gains in the short time I've been doing it. I use this workout with some modifications which seems to do the trick.

Frankoman's Dumbbell Only Split | Muscle & Strength

As for eating, I try to go around 2000 calories a day give or take. High protein but not necessarily low carb. In fact, I'm probably not eating enough fat and should probably grill some salmon and stuff more often.

Anyways, I'm still on my journey and still learning. My short term goals are 10 pound marks on the scale. Hitting one of those is a HUGE emotional boost for me. But I'm also taking pride in having to buy new jeans and having t-shirts that were tight becoming real loose. Long term I don't really have any goals. I don't have a set weight I want to get to, I just want to try and get in better shape everyday.

[RainMaker]

Does anyone have any recommendations for the grocery store? I'm looking for things that maybe the average person would overlook. I have a couple recommendations for others here:

Kashi Cereal- They make a couple types that have very little sugar and are primarily fiber and protein. Doesn't taste too bad either and you can add a Splenda packet and/or some honey if you need a little extra zing. I use it as a snack on occasion or a quick breakfast. Was going the oatmeal route a lot but really hate that stuff.

FiberOne Granola Bars - The full bar is 140 calories and has 9g of fiber. Will really clean you out if you're not getting enough fiber and isn't all that bad for you.

Skinny Cow Ice Cream Sandwiches - If you have a sweet tooth and are dying while losing weight, I'd recommend these. 140 calories and only 2g of real sugar. In fact it has 4g of fiber in one too. They actually taste really good too which was shocking to me. I don't have it everyday, but there are times I just need something "normal" and one of these leaves me guilt-free and quenches that taste.

Ezekiel Bread/Buns - Probably the healthiest bread out there. Made from an old Bible recipe it has no sugar or HFCS. Basically just fiber and protein. Since it's not filled with preservatives, it goes bad quickly so you'll find it in the frozen foods section of the grocery store. I've found the buns are great for burgers too since most burger buns are pretty crappy for you. Throw a lean beef or turkey burger on these buns and it's a pretty low calories, healthy meal.

[Dodgerchick]

Originally Posted by DaddyTorgo

Down 6lbs in 17 days. Not bad.

And when I weighed myself this morning I was 253 (although that's not an "official" weight. So that was sweet.

go u!!

[Dodgerchick]

So I might as well log what I had. 2 slices of pizza before going to the party and drank water. At the party I made it a point to drink lots of water so I don't go nuts on the food. In the end, I had a couple handfuls of chips con queso, a few Wheat Thins with some cream cheese stuff, a couple sausage balls and the biggie... peach cobbler. Bad night, but no soda or alcoholic beverages... just water. I'm probably not gonna weigh myself 'til Sunday cuz I dont wanna see the scale go up. Oh, then I came home and had a big ass cookie. So yeah :•|

[DaddyTorgo]

Originally Posted by RainMaker

Does anyone have any recommendations for the grocery store? I'm looking for things that maybe the average person would overlook. I have a couple recommendations for others here:

Kashi Cereal- They make a couple types that have very little sugar and are primarily fiber and protein. Doesn't taste too bad either and you can add a Splenda packet and/or some honey if you need a little extra zing. I use it as a snack on occasion or a quick breakfast. Was going the oatmeal route a lot but really hate that stuff.

FiberOne Granola Bars - The full bar is 140 calories and has 9g of fiber. Will really clean you out if you're not getting enough fiber and isn't all that bad for you.

Skinny Cow Ice Cream Sandwiches - If you have a sweet tooth and are dying while losing weight, I'd recommend these. 140 calories and only 2g of real sugar. In fact it has 4g of fiber in one too. They actually taste really good too which was shocking to me. I don't have it everyday, but there are times I just need something "normal" and one of these leaves me guilt-free and quenches that taste.

Ezekiel Bread/Buns - Probably the healthiest bread out there. Made from an old Bible recipe it has no sugar or HFCS. Basically just fiber and protein. Since it's not filled with preservatives, it goes bad quickly so you'll find it in the frozen foods section of the grocery store. I've found the buns are great for burgers too since most burger buns are pretty crappy for you. Throw a lean beef or turkey burger on these buns and it's a pretty low calories, healthy meal.

The Skinny Cow Ice Cream sandwiches are awesome if you're craving something "normal."

[DaddyTorgo]

Reduced Fat Nilla Wafers are a good cookie choice. Better than SnackWells IMO.

8 of them (8!!!) have 140 calories. So you can get a 70-100 calorie dessert out of 4-6 of them for your lunch.

And they taste just as Nilla-ey as the regular ones.

Never gone the Kashi route, but maybe I should check that out.

[JediKooter]

I've started trying to revamp my diet now that I actually have normal sized fridge and freezer and microwave. I've started buying more vegetables and making things like cabbage soup and onion soup using just water and spices for the cabbage soup and some broth for the onion soup.

Since I don't like a whole lot of different kinds of vegetables, but, I like them cooked and slathered in butter, I've changed this to cauliflower marinated in Italian dressing and eating it raw. Actually tastes good. I'm going to try that with some broccoli.

It seems like I may have lost a little bit of weight, but, I don't know since I don't have a scale. The gym thing just isn't working for me. I hate running, so I don't use the tread mill, but, I like the stationary bike, but the seats are so damn uncomfortable, I can't sit on it long enough for it to do any good. So, I'm probably going to cancel the gym membership and figure out some other way to get my exercise in.

[saldana]

so i lost about 20 pounds since late spring without actually doing anything (like eating), so I decided that since I havent been as thin as I am now since 2004, i would actually use the opportunity to get in shape at the same time

i have very bad ankles and knees...had surgery on one knee my freshman year in college and have partially torn ligaments in each ankle, so running is out of the question, which led me to cycling.

i dug my old gary fisher mountain bike out of the shed at the beginning of september and took it over to one of the bike parks in the area...started out with a nice 5 mile ride...just riding 2 days a week for the next three weeks and I was up to 16 miles and down to 203.5 (i was close to 230 in early april).

i've lost the last two weeks to a very painful ribcage condition that involves swelling/irritation of the cartilege where my ribs connect to my sternum and spine, which results in feeling like a heart attack and back spasms all day long, but managed to only go backwards to 206.

even though my ribs arent better yet, i got tired of not riding and went back out yesterday for 7.5 miles.

my goal is 200 pounds by the end of October, and depending on how soon the snow comes, 185 by christmas.

dont really pay alot of attention to my diet, but if i actually incorporated eating healthy, i could probably get there faster, but right now i am just focusing on eating period, and will worry about quality later.

put on a pair of 34 waist pants today for the first time in 3 or 4 years.

for the guys asking about the toll of cycling on your ankles, mine never bother me. my right knee (which is one i need surgery on, not the one I had fixed) gets sore, but i think that is my fault from the way i pedal, because if i relax my quad more on my upstroke, the pain goes away...i just have to be conscious of it and relax when i am not driving with that leg...my ankles havent hurt once

i plan on dropping about a grand on a medium grade road bike in the spring...from what a couple friends who are very into cycling have told me, the same amount of effort i put into 15 miles on a mountain bike will take me about 20+ on a road bike just because of the weight of the bike being so much less...one of my friends did a charity ride 2 weeks ago that went from one side of New Jersey to the other, and then back again the next day (cherry hill to ocean city)...my overall goal is to do that with her next fall....its 75 miles each way/each day

im 36, and drink alot of high calorie beers which is how i got fat in the first place.

[Dodgerchick]

Welcome JediKooter and saldana!

JediKooter - which gym are u going to? The YMCA has a bunch of classes that might interest you. I hated going to the gym but finding classes I like makes all the difference. Just a thought.

and saldana, congrats on getting into the smaller jeans, its such a good feeling aint it?

[Dodgerchick]

I shouldnt of weighed myself... oh well. Did Zumba today and burned just under 700 calories. I wasnt feeling it, the instructor changed her routine and I didnt like it. She had this move where you had to kick and my hamstrings hurt like hell so I decided not to go to BodyCombat. I blame yoga, it really kicked my ass.

When the class was over, i got compliments on how much weight I lost by the instructor and a girl I hadnt seen in over a month. Made me feel really good. The instructor also said that if I needed her help with anything to let her know. its such a great feeling getting complimented after i've been busting my ass.

I'm supposed to go on a walk tomorrow, but we'll see i'm still in some pain.

[DaddyTorgo]

254 last night!!!

WOOO!!!!!

[DaddyTorgo]

way to go DC - those compliments make all the difference don't they?

having a support system of people who understand what you're trying to do, and how hard it can be, and who will recognize you for your success is so important.

when i did Weight Watchers with all the middle-aged and elderly women, that was one thing that really like...stood out to me. Essentially, that was like 75% of the value of the program, was the support system.

[saldana]

thanks DC...it was actually a suit that i was able to fit into, and if i may say so myself, i looked damn good.

did 12 miles today before my ribs had it...gonna go back out again tomorrow.

[Comey]

Originally Posted by saldana

thanks DC...it was actually a suit that i was able to fit into, and if i may say so myself, i looked damn good.

did 12 miles today before my ribs had it...gonna go back out again tomorrow.

Can you discuss your route? Is it a hilly ride? Is it flat and pedaling is the key? I'm curious as to what you're doing.

[Dodgerchick]

Day off.

I'm really bad about stretching out properly before any workouts. My hamstrings still hurt from Thursday. Antmeister started massaging my legs and it was painful, I was all knotted up. Make sure you guys stretch before any workout, k?

[saldana]

Originally Posted by Comey

Can you discuss your route? Is it a hilly ride? Is it flat and pedaling is the key? I'm curious as to what you're doing.

the Lehigh Valley Velodrome is about 5 minutes from where i work, so cycling is pretty big in the area...all the roads near the velodrome have cycle lanes on the shoulders and stuff....one of the people that sponsors the velodrome got with the county and build a cycling/running/skating park across the street, and thats where i ride....its a one mile paved track (although the map says 1.3...have to look into that) with various degrees of hills and a good mix of flats and climbs, with really only one big downhill that you can coast...in each lap, there is probably 4/10ths of the mile that are climbs, 2/10 are downhills, and 4/10ths are flats.

ive done a couple rides on the roads around the velodrome, but I enjoy the track so I can just put my ipod on and put my head down...no need to worry about traffic

http://www.lehighcounty.org/Departme...fault.aspx#TOP

click on Rodale Park and it shows a diagram of the path.

[Eaglesfan27]

Originally Posted by DaddyTorgo

way to go DC - those compliments make all the difference don't they?

having a support system of people who understand what you're trying to do, and how hard it can be, and who will recognize you for your success is so important.

when i did Weight Watchers with all the middle-aged and elderly women, that was one thing that really like...stood out to me. Essentially, that was like 75% of the value of the program, was the support system.

The compliments really do make a huge difference. I've gotten a ton from patients, family, friends over the last month or two as the loss has become very obvious and it is highly motivating to keep going.

Last night, I had a big date with ribs and lots of unhealthy food, but despite that I'm still 1.5 lbs down this week (couldn't resist doing a weigh in this morning to see how bad the damage.) Hoping to finish the week off strong and have at least 2 lbs, hopefully 2.5 lost this week.

[duckman]

Originally Posted by Dodgerchick

Day off.

I'm really bad about stretching out properly before any workouts. My hamstrings still hurt from Thursday. Antmeister started massaging my legs and it was painful, I was all knotted up. Make sure you guys stretch before any workout, k?

Actually, research has shown that stretching before exercise can diminish performance (at least, my health class textbook says so). You should do 5-10 minute warm up before any exercise program followed by 10 minutes of stretching to keep joints and tendons loose.

I'm jumping back into the weight loss game again. I'm in need of some serious weight loss right now. I'm approximately 225 lbs right now and I would like to get somewhere around 175-180. My doctor and physical therapist recommended that I lose that much to help my neck issues.

[sabotai]

Googled this article on stretching: Feb. 28: New Study Finds That Static Streching Pre-Race Diminishes Performance | Peak Performance

"With stretching, they covered an average of 5.8 km in the last 30 minutes. Without stretching, they ran 6.0 km, an increase of 200 meters or about 3.4 percent. Eight of the 10 runners performed better without stretching; one performed better with stretching; and one performed essentially the same under both conditions. On average, the stretchers hit a max heart rate 5 beats per minute higher than the non-stretchers in the final 30 minutes. In other words, the stretchers were working harder but covering less distance.

In another interesting comparison, Panton and colleagues measured the calorie-burn of the runners during the first "easy" 30 minutes of the treadmill test. In this case, the stretchers burned more calories than the non-stretchers. In other words, the stretching routine seemed to make them less efficient."


Lower performance for distant running, but seems a bit negligible for those looking to lose weight. In fact, if stretching before a workout makes the body burn more calories, that's a good thing for people looking to lose weight.

Besides, I always thought the point of stretching was to reduce the chance of injury. So I googled that and found this: Does Stretching Prevent Injuries? Advice from Runner's World

Which says that stretching before exercise is most likely to cause injury than prevent it.....

So yeah....

[DaddyTorgo]

252.8 last night!

That's only what... 0.8lbs from my unofficial starting weight, and 1.6 from my scale-starting-weight.

Feelin real good about this!!

[duckman]

Week 0 (10/11/2010)

226.5 (-0.0)

This is my initial weigh-in this morning. My plan is fairly simple at this point as I want to keep from overdoing it and hurting my neck:

-Keep my calories between 1500-2200 calories cycling higher calories on certain days to keep my thyroid gland in check. I am allowed to eat out two days a week, but no fast food.

-Begin with 45-60 minutes of cardio on a treadmill for six to twelve weeks before beginning cross training.

-Continue my physical therapy exercises to strengthen and loosen the neck, traps, and shoulders.

[sabotai]

Second day of running this morning. I'm following C25K, but I'll only be running twice a week to try to keep my knees and feet happy (so I'll do each week twice). 2 times a week is better than 0 times a week, Hopefully my knees won't hurt like hell like the last time I tried to run.

On the off days, I think I'll still go out and just walk quickly for 30 minutes. I spend all day indoors so I'm sure I could use the sun. And then probably do something in the afternoon.

I also got an iPod Touch so I used the Nine+ GPS app (which doesn't use GPS on the iTouch but rather uses it's wireless signal to triangulate your position, so it's not super accurate, but good enough for my purposes). I ran/walked 1.81 miles (2.92 km) in 30 minutes and 10 seconds (5 minute warm up walk, 20 minutes of run/walk, 5 minute cool down).

Nike+ GPS tells me I burned 254 calories. My heart rate monitor says I burned 737 calories. Nike+ has got to using a formula based on time and distance, while the heart rate monitor is (obviously) using my heart rate to calculate it. Which one is more accurate? I'm more inclined to believe the HR monitor. I'm thinking Nike+ was made with the seasoned runner in mind, and if an in-shape experienced runner did the first week of C25K, he probably would only burn around 250 calories. My out of shape fat ass? Probably closer to 737 than 254.

[Dodgerchick]

Hmmm... interesting stretching article, food for thought.

Sab - congrats on starting the C25K program!! You're gonna push your body like you never thought you could. I credit the program for being able to workout harder and longer and I hope you get the same results.

DT - congrats on your weight loss!!

duckman - welcome!

189.6

Day off. Tomorrow is Y10X. I'm trying to get a crew together to join me for Y10X the next time around. I think a lot of ppl don't realize the amount of potential they have. The body can do amazing things when it gets pushed to its limits.

Great going everyone, keep it up!

[DaddyTorgo]

Thanks DC - good job yourself!!

[JediKooter]

Originally Posted by Dodgerchick

Welcome JediKooter and saldana!

JediKooter - which gym are u going to? The YMCA has a bunch of classes that might interest you. I hated going to the gym but finding classes I like makes all the difference. Just a thought.

and saldana, congrats on getting into the smaller jeans, its such a good feeling aint it?

It's one we have here at work. They have some classes, but, it doesn't seem like a whole lot.

[saldana]

9 more miles on the bike today, followed by 3 miles of fast walking...weighed myself when i got out of the shower....203...i know im not supposed to weigh out at night, so i will do it again in the morning, i was just anxious to see it since i knew i had done alot, and this was the first time i have gone out on back to back days.

bought the skinny cow ice cream sandwiches at the store tonight...will evaluate later.

[sabotai]

I bought the Skinny Cow ice cream sandwiches (Cookies and Cream) and cones (Chocolate w/ Fudge) last week. Both get a big thumbs up from me.

[saldana]

Originally Posted by sabotai

I bought the Skinny Cow ice cream sandwiches (Cookies and Cream) and cones (Chocolate w/ Fudge) last week. Both get a big thumbs up from me.

i concur..i also got the cookies and cream ones and found it to be very good...my only problem is how to prevent myself from eating 3 of them at a time.

[Blackadar]

Originally Posted by sabotai

Nike+ GPS tells me I burned 254 calories. My heart rate monitor says I burned 737 calories. Nike+ has got to using a formula based on time and distance, while the heart rate monitor is (obviously) using my heart rate to calculate it. Which one is more accurate? I'm more inclined to believe the HR monitor. I'm thinking Nike+ was made with the seasoned runner in mind, and if an in-shape experienced runner did the first week of C25K, he probably would only burn around 250 calories. My out of shape fat ass? Probably closer to 737 than 254.

The Nike GPS is probably closer. 3.6 MPH is barely above walking speed. According to this: hxxp://www.nutristrategy.com/caloriesburnedrunning.htm, running at 5 MPH is going to burn off 600-700 calories per hour, so that puts you roughly at 350 calories. Another website is hxxp://www.healthstatus.com/calculate/cbc which shows that a 4 MPH walking pace burns off 269 calories in 30 minutes.

But I strongly suggest that you don't get caught up in burning calories as a number in relation to food, but only as a barometer of how hard you've worked. I doubt any machine is very accurate because calories burned does depend on so many factors. So I figure every machine is wrong. For example, I can get on one elliptical and go for 45 minutes and it'll tell me I've burned off 900 calories. I can do the same exact workout (Cardio Coach pimp opportunity again!) on my home elliptical and it'll say I've burned off 400. What's the truth? I have no idea.

So I use that home elliptical to gauge progress when I'm working out at home. For example, I did exactly 40 minutes on the elliptical today. It said I burned off 342 calories. Considering that 3 months ago I'd burn off only 295 on the same workout, that means I'm working 15% harder than I did on the same exact program. That's progress.

Same message goes for DodgerChick. She's probably not burning off 700 calories during Zumba class. That's ok though. If you know you've worked - if you know your perceived effort was high - then you did what you needed to do.