The Officialish FOFC Weight Loss Dynasty

[Dodgerchick]

Portion control is my biggest weakness.

[DaddyTorgo]

Originally Posted by Dodgerchick

Portion control is my biggest weakness.

Shrink the stomach first, then portion control becomes less of a big deal. I think it's also a matter of like...knowing that you're not going to be without, ya know?

I mean...you don't have to eat 2 of XYZ just because there's two in front of you or because you're at the store...just eat one and then put one in your like "mental bank" to redeem at some point in the future, know what I mean?

I'm sure there's good like...literature or webpages or whatever out there about portion control.

[Blackadar]

Have you seen a doctor? There's a drug called phentermine that can really reduce your hunger. It also can have some serious side effects, so you're only going to take it for 1-3 months and only under supervision. That can help you with portion control and then everything else follows...

[hoopsguy]

Had my first "WTF???" weigh-in this morning, back up to 183.3. We had a good meal for Mothers Day, including a couple of glasses of wine and dessert, but I didn't expect to be up 5 pounds after a weekend that included a soccer game and a ton of running around chasing my daughter on her bike + yard work.

I'm sure a couple of pounds will come off in the next day or two, but that still puts me quite a bit past where I thought I was for this weekend - figured I would be 180, 181 tops. Weird and annnoying.

[Blackadar]

Originally Posted by hoopsguy

Had my first "WTF???" weigh-in this morning, back up to 183.3. We had a good meal for Mothers Day, including a couple of glasses of wine and dessert, but I didn't expect to be up 5 pounds after a weekend that included a soccer game and a ton of running around chasing my daughter on her bike + yard work.

I'm sure a couple of pounds will come off in the next day or two, but that still puts me quite a bit past where I thought I was for this weekend - figured I would be 180, 181 tops. Weird and annnoying.

I wouldn't worry too much about it. Your weight is going to fluctuate a few pounds (2-4) on a daily basis due to water retention and the particulars of your digestive cycle. For example, if you ate something particularly salty the day before - say a bag of popcorn - you may find that you've "gained" two pounds simply due to water retention. It's temporary.

[hoopsguy]

I know it is - and this is also why I try not to hit the scale more than a couple of times per week. I don't want to get obsessed over the number when I know it is fluid.

I was just surprised at a 5 pound difference between weigh-ins, when I had been reasonably good about what I ate (again, Mothers Day involved more bad foods) and got good exercise.

[hoopsguy]

So the bad weigh-in forced me to jump on the treadmill on a day that I was planning to take off - but my thighs weren't having any of it. Too much pain after running around for an hour playing soccer on Saturday and then chasing my kid on her bike all day yesterday.

I decided to bust out my wife's "30 Day Shred" video as an alternative workout, and as my own version of training wheels to see if I will have the discipline to follow a workout program like P90X. I don't want to make the financial investment in a series of videos until I know that I'll have the follow-through to do the work. P90X was what I had initially envisioned doing with my workouts this year, but the cardio and now the Shred videos are the first and second acts of this little play.

Blackadar, you had mentioned that you need weights for P90X. Are they the little 3 pound weight stuff that you would use for an aerobic workout or will I need to invest in some dumbbells? Just figured I would ask while I'm thinking about it ...

Oh, and not surprisingly the "Shred" workout was pretty hard for me the first time doing it. I haven't done any workout along those lines in the last 20+ years (going back to high school) so I struggled with stuff that didn't look like it should be that hard. Hope to see dramatically better results in a few weeks.

[JediKooter]

Originally Posted by Dodgerchick

Portion control is my biggest weakness.

That is very hard. However, I just forced myself, but, I also live alone so I don't have any 'peer pressure' either. Fridays are my 'eat anything I want to' day. That way, if I'm craving something, I'll just have it on Friday. I drink a lot of water too and I have no soda at all in my house. Just water and gatorade. I also have a lot of pickles too. Zero calories, but, a bit high in the salt count.

I'm at 231 now, so hopefully by the end of the week I'll finally scratch that 229 mark on my scale.

[Blackadar]

Originally Posted by hoopsguy

So the bad weigh-in forced me to jump on the treadmill on a day that I was planning to take off - but my thighs weren't having any of it. Too much pain after running around for an hour playing soccer on Saturday and then chasing my kid on her bike all day yesterday.

I decided to bust out my wife's "30 Day Shred" video as an alternative workout, and as my own version of training wheels to see if I will have the discipline to follow a workout program like P90X. I don't want to make the financial investment in a series of videos until I know that I'll have the follow-through to do the work. P90X was what I had initially envisioned doing with my workouts this year, but the cardio and now the Shred videos are the first and second acts of this little play.

Blackadar, you had mentioned that you need weights for P90X. Are they the little 3 pound weight stuff that you would use for an aerobic workout or will I need to invest in some dumbbells? Just figured I would ask while I'm thinking about it ...

Oh, and not surprisingly the "Shred" workout was pretty hard for me the first time doing it. I haven't done any workout along those lines in the last 20+ years (going back to high school) so I struggled with stuff that didn't look like it should be that hard. Hope to see dramatically better results in a few weeks.

Jillian has some good workouts and her 30-Day Shred video is pretty strong. There's a lot of core strength moves and combo moves that aren't necessarily easy. I'll address the P90X materials requirements below, but if you're struggling with the first phase of the 30-Day Shred, I have a few alternate videos/sets to suggest beyond P90X. P90X is damn difficult - it pretty much started the "extreme" workout video craze. That's not to say it isn't really effective, because it is. But 30-Day Shred is pretty easy compared to P90X and you don't want to get discouraged. So here are a few alternatives as you build up to P90X (which I still highly recommend, simply because it works better than anything else I've done).

Tom Holland's Total Body Workout - $18 new from Amazon, weightlifting, cardio, crunches and pushups all in one 45 minute workout. It's from quite a few years ago, but it still remains the single best complete body workout I've ever purchased. It might be very good to put into a rotation with the 30-Day Shred workout because it will get you used to lifting bigger weights before tackling P90X. In fact, a lot of what you see in this workout you see in P90X (just a lot more of it in X!)

Atletica by Powerstrike - Ilaria's kettlebell-style workout is strength-based, but the moves are very different than what you'd normally find in a strength workout. Really different and an excellent "core strength" workout. Again, it could probably be put in with a 30-Day Shred rotation fairly easily.

P90 Master Series - Little known, these were done by Tony Horton between P90 and P90X. The cool thing is that you get sculpt, sweat, plyo and a couple of other videos for $60. So if you haven't made the investment in P90X, you can go with this series to see if you're going to like it or not. It's not as good as P90X, mind you - the production values aren't as high - but you'll see a lot of stuff in P90X that you see in P90 Masters. I don't much like the original P90 program, but I can tolerate the P90 Masters (and like X).

---

For P90X, you need sizable dumbbells. Depending on your strength, anywhere from 20-40lbs most likely. And you'll probably need a pretty decent set. For my own workouts, I use everything from 40s (lawnmowers) all the way down to 5s (weighted shoulder circles).

You could also get a few resistance bands of different resistances to sub out for the dumbbells. Someone is always on the bands during each workout to teach you the correct form. Personally, I've always hated resistance bands, but they are considerably cheaper than my pair of Bowflex Selecttech 552s.

Note that Beachbody will probably be releasing P90X2 (or P90XMC2) later this year. It will be tougher than P90X.

--

For anyone buying expensive workout sets (P90X, Insanity, etc.) on Ebay/ Amazon:
Be very, very aware that most of the used sets sold on Ebay or Amazon are bootlegs. The DVDs are usually of poor quality and don't last all that long, the chaptering may not work right or so forth. The sets look a lot like the real thing, with fully colored cases, the Beachbody graphics, etc. They're hard to identify, but the dead giveaway are the manuals. For example, a Chalean Extreme guide is 90 full-sized pages long, but the pirated version will have more of a half-sized pamphlet that runs 20 pages. Even apparently trusted sellers deal with these pirated versions, because many customers can't identify the real thing from a bootleg and give good feeedback. But then their DVDs go south or the indexes don't work and then they blame the product and not the bootleg seller.

[hoopsguy]

Thanks for a ton of good info there, Blackadar. When you talk about putting these in a rotation with another video series - are any of these structured in a way where it is supposed to be a set period of time devoted entirely to one workout program? I had thought that was part of the idea with P90X ... 90 days with pretty careful crafted workout routines for each day/week/month. Or am I completely off-base with that assumption?

[Blackadar]

Originally Posted by hoopsguy

Thanks for a ton of good info there, Blackadar. When you talk about putting these in a rotation with another video series - are any of these structured in a way where it is supposed to be a set period of time devoted entirely to one workout program? I had thought that was part of the idea with P90X ... 90 days with pretty careful crafted workout routines for each day/week/month. Or am I completely off-base with that assumption?

Some of these are structured to be THE workout program for a set period of time. P90X, CLX, Insanity, Cathe's STS, Peak, etc. are all designed to be your only fitness program for a set amount of time. You're completely on-base with that assumption.

However, that still doesn't mean you have to follow them exactly. For example, I modify P90X because I hate, hate, hate YogaX and I already have football practice on Saturdays. So I swap out the Yoga for either kickboxing, a HIIT workout or cardio endurance and skip the Saturday workout altogether. I've thrown in Insanity workouts into my P90X schedule by skipping PlyoX and doing an Insanity workout instead. On my P90X recovery weeks, I most definitely don't follow the P90X schedule. Instead, I do a helluva lot more cardio than the program suggests. Overall, I'm still doing P90X, but I am tailoring it a bit more for my needs/wants.

When I did CLX, that program has you take off Thursdays. I don't ever take weekdays off, so I always threw something in on Thursdays and skipped the non-essential Saturday workout. That kept the program working for my schedule.

So when I say work it in to your rotation, let's just say you decide to do Jillian's 30 day shred. Now if you follow her plan, you're doing the same workout for 30 days. Boring. Instead, you might do Jililan on M, W and F, but slide in Tom Holland and/or Atletica on Tuesdays and some cardio (treadmill, elliptical) on Thursdays. You'd probably get better results by changing things up a bit and you don't have to do the same workout (or listen to the same instructor) too many times.

There's a fine line there. You don't want to sub out the hard stuff too much or use it as an excuse to shelve a program altogether. But you may find you get better results and stay more motivated by keeping things a little more fresh than just following a strict rotation. Remember, most people who start a 60 or 90 day program never finish. So do what you have to in order to keep yourself motivated.

EDIT: One thing you'll find about me, I'm pretty familiar with the workout-at-home DVD scene. As a father of two, I don't have time, money nor the motivation to go to a gym. I hate monotonous roadwork (biking, jogging) and there's no way I'm doing that at 5:00 AM anyway. I don't have a workout bench nor any place to toss around heavy weights even if I did. So I really have only my elliptical, my dumbbells and my DVD player. As such, I'm a DVD-workout slave pretty much 5 days a week. So if you have questions about these programs, fire away...I've either done 'em or I know people who have.

[sabotai]

Originally Posted by hoopsguy

I know it is - and this is also why I try not to hit the scale more than a couple of times per week. I don't want to get obsessed over the number when I know it is fluid.

That's why I weigh myself every day and get a weekly average. Last week, I weighed 232.4 one day, but I didn't care. I didn't do anything special and the next day I was 229.2. Average for that week was 229.1 (Had I weighed 230.4 instead, it only would have made a -0.3 difference in the average). This past week, I averaged 227.4 and weighed anywhere from 226.2 to 229.0 during the week. May 5th, I was 226.8, May 6th was up at 228.2 and May 7th was down a bit 227.8.

As long as the average is going down, the day to day fluctuations don't bother me. One of the problems with weighing yourself once or twice a week is that you might weigh yourself on a particularly low day (dehydrated, etc.) and then freak out because your weight doesn't go down for a week or two because you were actually a few pounds heavier when hydrated normally. For instance, if I had just weighed myself on April 3rd and then not weighed myself again until May 2nd, I would think that I didn't lose any weight at all (228.8 on Apr 3rd, 229.0 on May 2nd). I wouldn't have known that April 3rd was a particularly low day for me and that May 2nd was a particularly high day.

Anyway, enough rambling from me. Just my take on it.

[DaddyTorgo]

Tis true sab.

[The Jackal]

That's a really good idea, average weights. I tried to make myself only weigh in a couple of times per week but I like doing it every morning, and then again if I bike that day. But the main thing is to not get discouraged for 1-2 pound fluctuations as long as your weight is holding steady/going down over the longer periods.

[sabotai]

Went to get fitted for a suit for my sister's wedding (in a week and a half). I was hoping to fit into the one I wore to my brother's 15 years ago but didn't quite make it. It was for the better though, I didn't like that suit and didn't think I looked good in it. I looked....bulky in it. Can't think of a better term.... This time the person there suggested an "Athletic cut" suit because I have broad shoulders and it looked pretty good. Much, much better than the old suit I have.

Makes me wonder how a suit will look on me if and when I get to around 180 or lower....hell, I might become a "suit person". I've been wanting to experiment with different fashion styles and whatnot. Even though I'm hardly a fashion person, it's one of the things that keeps me motivated. Being a fat person, there's really only one look available. The "hide the fat as best as possible" style......man, I'm sick of that style.

[DaddyTorgo]

Originally Posted by sabotai

Went to get fitted for a suit for my sister's wedding (in a week and a half). I was hoping to fit into the one I wore to my brother's 15 years ago but didn't quite make it. It was for the better though, I didn't like that suit and didn't think I looked good in it. I looked....bulky in it. Can't think of a better term.... This time the person there suggested an "Athletic cut" suit because I have broad shoulders and it looked pretty good. Much, much better than the old suit I have.

Makes me wonder how a suit will look on me if and when I get to around 180 or lower....hell, I might become a "suit person". I've been wanting to experiment with different fashion styles and whatnot. Even though I'm hardly a fashion person, it's one of the things that keeps me motivated. Being a fat person, there's really only one look available. The "hide the fat as best as possible" style......man, I'm sick of that style.

I know the feeling. My dress-up clothes are starting to fit again and I really enjoy pulling them out and putting them on. Hell, some of the pants are even too big at the moment, as are the necks of the shirts.

Great feeling - looking forward to being able to actually experiment with some fashions.

[DaddyTorgo]

Not going to be home until Friday morning (house sitting for parents) so we'll see how my weight it when I get home.

Brought all my food essentials with me - which is kinda silly, but what the hell.

[The Jackal]

Originally Posted by DaddyTorgo

Not going to be home until Friday morning (house sitting for parents) so we'll see how my weight it when I get home.

Brought all my food essentials with me - which is kinda silly, but what the hell.

Not really silly. When you're away from your routine and normal options is often when you stray out of convenience or peer pressure.

[Blackadar]

No major weight loss this week...maybe a half pound or so...but I'm continuing to put on muscle in my current P90X rotation. So even though I'm not losing, I am losing it in the right areas and gaining in the right areas. I just finished up the 2nd of the 3 weightlifting segments in P90X. Now I can look forward to a week of moderate workouts before I'm on to the final lifting push for 5 weeks (instead of the normal 4).

[DaddyTorgo]

BOOYA!!

194.shitiforgotonthedrivetoworkbutitwas4or6

So that's basically -68lbs.

[The Jackal]

Originally Posted by DaddyTorgo

BOOYA!!

194.shitiforgotonthedrivetoworkbutitwas4or6

So that's basically -68lbs.

Awesome. How tall are you? We weigh pretty much the same now, I'd like to get between 185-190 but I'm pretty pleased.

[Blackadar]

Originally Posted by DaddyTorgo

BOOYA!!

194.shitiforgotonthedrivetoworkbutitwas4or6

So that's basically -68lbs.

Ok, DT, what are your suggestions for losing that much weight and keeping it off? I'm down 50+ myself, but I always like to know what works for other folks. Especially in the way of diet, managing hunger, eating habits and so forth.

[DaddyTorgo]

Originally Posted by The Jackal

Awesome. How tall are you? We weigh pretty much the same now, I'd like to get between 185-190 but I'm pretty pleased.

I'm 6ft even. The lightest I've been since HS was 178 (right after HS). That seemed a bit too light at the time, so I sort of set my goal for this round as "somewhere around 184," but I may actually push it and try to get down into the 170s actually. But my publiclly-stated goal is 182, as that would be 80lbs lost.

[DaddyTorgo]

Originally Posted by Blackadar

Ok, DT, what are your suggestions for losing that much weight and keeping it off? I'm down 50+ myself, but I always like to know what works for other folks. Especially in the way of diet, managing hunger, eating habits and so forth.

Congrats on the 50+ Blackadar - it's definitely not a cakewalk (mmm cake) so you have my respect!

[DaddyTorgo]

193.6 this morning

[Blackadar]

Where's that nice, long answer, DT?

Oh, and gratz.

[DaddyTorgo]

Originally Posted by Blackadar

Where's that nice, long answer, DT?

Oh, and gratz.

it's coming - i got distracted by some other stuff that I should have done a while back for the Medieval II Total War mod that I'm a part of.

[DaddyTorgo]

Originally Posted by Blackadar

Ok, DT, what are your suggestions for losing that much weight and keeping it off? I'm down 50+ myself, but I always like to know what works for other folks. Especially in the way of diet, managing hunger, eating habits and so forth.

My suggestions...let's see. Let me approach by categories.

DIET:
My diet is fairly...restricted. Not in the sense of doing any sort of fad diet or anything, and I do give myself the freedom to cheat off of it, so it's more self-restricted I guess you'd say. I've been lucky so far in that I haven't had to get all calorie-counting (although I'm certainly calorie-aware). But I don't keep a daily calorie-log or Weight Watchers "Points" log or anything. I just know that my breakfast is in the neighborhood of 200-300 calories, my lunch is probably 400 or so, and my dinner will be around 300.

If I go out to eat I stick to salad or a lil chicken breast or plain grilled seafood - although every so often I'll go out and have some red meat.

Avoiding alcohol (unless I'm having drinks with someone for work, then it's one drink and nothing but veggies for the rest of the night), since alcohol decreases your metabolism by 30%.

But like I said - I do let myself enjoy eating too. Fri/Sat/Sun nights I have 2 pieces of pizza each night for dinner (from my favorite local pizza place). Then again, I only have one "brunch" type meal before that during the day, and potentially a midafternoon 100 calorie snack if the "brunch" was more a breakfast (Saturday).

Breakfast is a 100-calorie English muffin and a little bit of "I can't believe it's not butter light," along with a smoothie that's 1 teaspoon of fat-free yogurt, one banana, a handful of frozen berries, and a quarter-cup or so of that tropicana 50 oj-ish stuff, along with a dash of skim milk to make it not too thick.

Lunch is a 250-calorie or so sandwich (100 calorie deli-flat bread, slice of deli meat (buffalo chicken), slice of cheese), along with fruit+veggie (carrots + clementines most of the time), a small handful of baked chips (half a serving size), and a half-serving of reduced fat nilla wafers (60 calories in 4).

Lately I've been very stuck (in a positive way) on Healthy Choice microwave meals for dinner. Pretty solid taste-wise, between 200-260 calories in most of them (some of the more saucy ones are just north of 300). It's not ideal, but my schedule gets me home around 7:30 most of the time it seems, so I don't want to have to take the time to cook at that point.

Snacks can be 100-calorie popcorn packs, a bit of dry cheerios, a handful of goldfish.

Every so often I have one of the small york peppermint patties (50 calories) when I need a chocolate fix. Weight Watchers makes some surprisingly tasty frozen desserts.

And I chew a lot of Stride gum.


MANAGING HUNGER:
I drink a ton of tea. Probably like 5 cups a day. Fills me up with liquid at a zero-calorie cost. Drink tea every couple hours. Two in the morning before lunch. One in mid-afternoon and one basically right around dinnertime. Fill my stomach up with liquid so I'm less hungry overall.

Snack on carrots (satisfying crunch), or fruit. 100 calorie popcorn packs if you gotta have some salt and something to fill your stomach.

Try to stick to a routine pretty good so my body knows when to expect food (insofar as that's possible).

In some respects as you know though, it's just about listening to your body. If my body says "I'M STARVING...FEED ME!!" then I'll eat something. I ate an extra organic granola bar yesterday for example, around 6pm when I went out to read before dinner.

EATING HABITS:
Well, like I said - drinking a ton of tea. Filling up on water at restauruants and at home all the time. Here's a good one I think I've suggested before -- eat veggies/salad FIRST. And not just first as you sit down at the table (although you can do that if you're eating slow enough), but like a good 30 minutes before you eat the rest of the meal (to the extent that's possible) in order to fill you up on that stuff rather than the other stuff.

I used to be a huge believer in the "don't eat anything within 4 hours of going to sleep" rule, but I've really relaxed that in practice (also because I stay up so late) and I let myself snack on a cup of dry cheerios and/or a handful of goldfish after dinner if necessary.

Portion control is obviously the huge thing. Shrinking the stomach down so that you need to eat less to be full. Hell...I can have one hot dog and call that a meal now. Or two slices of pizza instead of a full small pizza (although lately I've been thinking of cutting back to just one slice even). There's not really much I can say about that - it's painful while you're doing it obviously, because you're hungry, but it's sooooo necessary.

EXERCISE:
Nothing complicated here. 45 minutes (around 5.2 miles) of straight cardio on the elliptical (on the "weight loss" program where it varies the incline). High resistance on it (right now I'm at a "12" on the machines at my gym). 6 days a week (I take Sundays off).



So in summary...I guess a lot of it just comes down to willpower really. If I have the urge to go crazy (and yes I was craving McDonald's fries when I was at the mall yesterday), I say to myself "Listen...that isn't going to help you get thinner. Don't be a fatass idiot."

So yeah...self-deprication and willpower. Don't be afraid to call yourself out if you're going to do something stupid. But at the same time, give yourself little cheats. Just don't make your cheat "I'm going to go eat an entire pie/cake all by myself." Make your cheat like "I'm going to stop for a small size fat-free frozen yogurt after my salad for dinner."

And have people to cheer you on. I update my mother everyday around lunchtime (yes...I'm a mama's boy). It feels good to have someone else being like "you're awesome...i'm so proud of you."

There ya go. My thoughts.

[Blackadar]

WOW. I appreciate your willpower, DT, but that's a little extreme. I wonder if you're getting enough calories to fuel your body correctly. You're talking 900-1000 calories, which is literally starvation level. I agree portion control is entirely necessary, as is what you eat. But yowsa...I'm glad it worked for you, but my body doesn't function on that kind of minimalist diet, never mind I wouldn't want to do it.

Personally, I've just tried eating a lot more healthy at breakfast and especially lunch. So for example my lunch today was 1/2 of a turkey wrap from Jersey Mikes (they put cheese on it today, but I could do without), a bunch of fresh veggies and an apple. I'll eat less during dinner, too, but not at the calorie levels you're talking about. Hence the pork chop, the half of a sweet potato and some lightly steamed green beans for dinner.

You got more willpower than me, brotha! And I have no idea how you eat that frozen stuff...it tastes horrible.

---

From a fitness standpoint, I'd strongly suggest that you ease off the cardio and implement more weightlifting. Not only will you burn more calories long-term, you'll look/feel better. I like my elliptical too, but I'm far better off building at this stage rather than burning even though I'm not near my ideal weight. Case in point - I lost 45 pounds and while people noticed I'd lost some weight, it wasn't a big thing. I just finished the 2nd of 3 cycles with P90X and I've had a bunch of people ask me if I've lost weight recently, even though I've only lost 5 more pounds. It's how those pounds are getting shifted around that people noticed. My $.02 on that.

I'm focused less on the diet side and more on the workout side even though diet is 75% of your weight. I feel that if I work out hard and eat within reason, whatever my weight is it is.

[hoopsguy]

I'm nowhere near where you guys are in terms of weight loss, but I've tried to apply some of the same principles outlined in terms of portion control and food selection. However, that process just falls apart for me with lunch during the week. I've been pretty good about either having a bowl of raisin bran or a cinnamon raisin bagel for breakfast, along with a glass of orange juice. And I've been eating pretty small portions for dinner. But I get too many bad meals, and eat the standard portions, at lunch. I do IT consulting, and I'm rarely at the same client two days in a row. Some of the meals are with clients, but most of them are just me lacking the discipline to identify nearby places that offer healthy food and to choose appropriate portion sizes.

I also do a better job of tracking my fluids on the weekends than I do at work. It can be pretty hit/miss during the week, mostly dictated by how good a start I get to my day. I think this one is mostly a matter of firmly establishing habits; I'm not quite where drinking 50+ oz of water per day has become automatic.

[DaddyTorgo]

Originally Posted by Blackadar

WOW. I appreciate your willpower, DT, but that's a little extreme. I wonder if you're getting enough calories to fuel your body correctly. You're talking 900-1000 calories, which is literally starvation level. I agree portion control is entirely necessary, as is what you eat. But yowsa...I'm glad it worked for you, but my body doesn't function on that kind of minimalist diet, never mind I wouldn't want to do it.

Personally, I've just tried eating a lot more healthy at breakfast and especially lunch. So for example my lunch today was 1/2 of a turkey wrap from Jersey Mikes (they put cheese on it today, but I could do without), a bunch of fresh veggies and an apple. I'll eat less during dinner, too, but not at the calorie levels you're talking about. Hence the pork chop, the half of a sweet potato and some lightly steamed green beans for dinner.

You got more willpower than me, brotha! And I have no idea how you eat that frozen stuff...it tastes horrible.

---

From a fitness standpoint, I'd strongly suggest that you ease off the cardio and implement more weightlifting. Not only will you burn more calories long-term, you'll look/feel better. I like my elliptical too, but I'm far better off building at this stage rather than burning even though I'm not near my ideal weight. Case in point - I lost 45 pounds and while people noticed I'd lost some weight, it wasn't a big thing. I just finished the 2nd of 3 cycles with P90X and I've had a bunch of people ask me if I've lost weight recently, even though I've only lost 5 more pounds. It's how those pounds are getting shifted around that people noticed. My $.02 on that.

I'm focused less on the diet side and more on the workout side even though diet is 75% of your weight. I feel that if I work out hard and eat within reason, whatever my weight is it is.

Yeah - I'll have to start building in some more weight lifting as I get down towards 180 to try to shift off some of the remaining belly-fat.

Nah...my calorie-count is more than that. I'll have a little dessert or something, or maybe 5 or 6 chocolate covered almonds, or a handful of chips from the kitchen at the office or whatever. And I underestimated the calories in my normal day up above I'm sure. It is probably in the like 1300-1400 calorie range though. And that's on my best days. I've been known to be worse.

And the Healthy Choice dinners...I dunno...they're not terrible. They've reformulated a lot of them I guess, and with the sauces they're not bad. Not the greatest ever, but they're edible certainly.

[DaddyTorgo]

Originally Posted by hoopsguy

I'm nowhere near where you guys are in terms of weight loss, but I've tried to apply some of the same principles outlined in terms of portion control and food selection. However, that process just falls apart for me with lunch during the week. I've been pretty good about either having a bowl of raisin bran or a cinnamon raisin bagel for breakfast, along with a glass of orange juice. And I've been eating pretty small portions for dinner. But I get too many bad meals, and eat the standard portions, at lunch. And that is where I have the most problems.

You had less to lose though. I guess for your lunch it's just all about willpower man. Just...get that bad meal and eat a half a portion...and then work up to getting a better meal eventually?

[The Jackal]

The only thing I'll say about healthy choice dinners, and for the most part they are very good options - but if you have cholesterol concerns make sure you look at the cholesterol (and more importantly the saturated fat) contents. As a society we're becoming a little overzealous with the cutting back on calories while not taking into account the saturated fat that can be packed into things.

Tea is a great thing, and I echo what DT said about it keeping you full. I should drink more tea - I've been drinking a lot of water lately and probably have more beer/scotch than I should, but I have been losing a lot of weight and don't feel like depriving myself of a few drinks when I'm depriving myself of cheese and so many other things.

[DaddyTorgo]

Yeah - good points Jackal as far as the Healthy Choice meals. I always make sure to check the full nutrition label.

Tea is excellent. I'm probably up to ohhh...5-6 cups on an average day.

And hey - if you're doing well then you deserve a drink or two.

Everybody tells me that I'm too draconian with how hard I'm going at this, but I just have the mindset of not giving myself an inch so that I don't have the opportunity to take a mile. But that's just me knowing myself, ya know?

[Blackadar]

Originally Posted by hoopsguy

I'm nowhere near where you guys are in terms of weight loss, but I've tried to apply some of the same principles outlined in terms of portion control and food selection. However, that process just falls apart for me with lunch during the week. I've been pretty good about either having a bowl of raisin bran or a cinnamon raisin bagel for breakfast, along with a glass of orange juice. And I've been eating pretty small portions for dinner. But I get too many bad meals, and eat the standard portions, at lunch. I do IT consulting, and I'm rarely at the same client two days in a row. Some of the meals are with clients, but most of them are just me lacking the discipline to identify nearby places that offer healthy food and to choose appropriate portion sizes.

I'm a consultant and also on the road quite a bit. If you drive to your clients a lot, do what I do - pack your lunch. Throw a turkey sandwich on wheat, some fresh veggies and an apple in a cooler and take it with you. If you fly, well...you're pretty well screwed. It's so damn hard to eat right on the road and often what you think is "healthy food" isn't anything of the sort.

[Blackadar]

Originally Posted by DaddyTorgo

Yeah - I'll have to start building in some more weight lifting as I get down towards 180 to try to shift off some of the remaining belly-fat.

Ok, if you have any questions, let me know. It sounds like you go to a gym, so you have a lot of options. My workouts are all in my living room.

One mistake many people make when lifting is they don't do it fast enough, or hard enough, or long enough in a gym circuit. As such, they don't build enough muscle or get their heart rate up high enough to also have a cardiovascular effect.

If they offer it, try a kettlebell class.

Originally Posted by DaddyTorgo

Nah...my calorie-count is more than that. I'll have a little dessert or something, or maybe 5 or 6 chocolate covered almonds, or a handful of chips from the kitchen at the office or whatever. And I underestimated the calories in my normal day up above I'm sure. It is probably in the like 1300-1400 calorie range though. And that's on my best days. I've been known to be worse.

That's still low, but that's better. If you lift, you may need to up your caloric intake (or at least your protein intake) a bit.

Originally Posted by DaddyTorgo

And the Healthy Choice dinners...I dunno...they're not terrible. They've reformulated a lot of them I guess, and with the sauces they're not bad. Not the greatest ever, but they're edible certainly.

More power to you, but I can't stand 'em. I have to have home-cooked food on a regular basis, which is my wife's job!

I really dislike frozen foods...except for Totino's Frozen Pizzas, but I haven't had one of those in a couple of years.

Oh, and I hate tea. Vile liquid. I drink water all the time, with the very occasional Sprite in a restaurant.

[DaddyTorgo]

[quote=Blackadar;2471200]

Originally Posted by DaddyTorgo

Yeah - I'll have to start building in some more weight lifting as I get down towards 180 to try to shift off some of the remaining belly-fat. ['/quote]

Ok, if you have any questions, let me know. It sounds like you go to a gym, so you have a lot of options. My workouts are all in my living room.

One mistake many people make when lifting is they don't do it fast enough, or hard enough, or long enough in a gym circuit. As such, they don't build enough muscle or get their heart rate up high enough to also have a cardiovascular effect.

If they offer it, try a kettlebell class.



That's still low, but that's better. If you lift, you may need to up your caloric intake (or at least your protein intake) a bit.




More power to you, but I can't stand 'em. I have to have home-cooked food on a regular basis, which is my wife's job!

I really dislike frozen foods...except for Totino's Frozen Pizzas, but I haven't had one of those in a couple of years.

Oh, and I hate tea. Vile liquid. I drink water all the time, with the very occasional Sprite in a restaurant.

I do go to a gym...got one right by the office. Actually had like 3 personal training sessions where I had the trainer set me up with a weightlifting routine so I've got sort of a good circuit to go back to, but will let you know.

More impressed you've managed to lose that much with all your workouts being in your living room. That's massively impressive. Kudos to you!!! Literally...have a Kudo bar. Haha.

Yeah...I was definitely upping my protein before when I was lifting...eggbeaters for breakfast instead of shake+english muffin being one example. And I do need to transition to some lifting and core-work once I get down to like 180 to get rid of the belly-fat I still have and try to flatten that out (which I've done once before, so that I was much more "straight-down" (not 6-pac, but just a straight line from chest on down with no tummy).

Yeah - it's strange that I don't mind the Healthy Choice meals. Don't get me wrong...I'd rather have home-cooked food, but being single and working till at least 6pm everyday (and then taking an hour at starbucks to sit and read and have a pre-dinner cup of tea, or at my parent's visiting them) means that I just don't have the inclination to cook at 7:30 when I get home. Sometimes I end up out for dinner, or sometimes I stay at my parent's and eat mom's food...but I prolly do at least 2 of the Healthy Choice meals a week, in a normal week.

So the Healthy Choice meals are alright. And they're definitely not harming the weight-loss, so that's a strong point in their favor.

Do I enjoy the hell out of them? Nah...that'd be a huge stretch. But they do the job.

Food as fuel vs. food as enjoyment I suppose. But I still get my enjoyment times. Really love my lunches and my morning shakes and my lil treats.

[The Jackal]

I've got my physical on Friday.. hoping the cholesterol has taken a huge dip with the loss of 35 pounds and the reduction of saturated fat!

[Blackadar]

Originally Posted by The Jackal

I've got my physical on Friday.. hoping the cholesterol has taken a huge dip with the loss of 35 pounds and the reduction of saturated fat!

Good luck!

Reminds me of a doctor's visit a few years ago. I came in rather overweight with a family history of diabetes, heart problems, etc. So they did all the blood work on me, sent it out and then had me back in to discuss the results.

Doctor looks at me, shakes his head and says, "You need to lose some weight because..." and then glances down at the sheet. "Hmmm...blood sugar is fine".

Looks at me again and says, "You need to lose some weight because..." and looks over his sheet. "Cholesterol is really good."

"You need to lose some weight because..."...checks his sheet..."blood pressure is better than normal."

He does this routine a couple more times until finally he looks me square in the eye and says, "You need to lose some weight because...YOU'RE FAT!"

[Blackadar]

[quote=DaddyTorgo;2471298]

Originally Posted by Blackadar

I do go to a gym...got one right by the office. Actually had like 3 personal training sessions where I had the trainer set me up with a weightlifting routine so I've got sort of a good circuit to go back to, but will let you know.

More impressed you've managed to lose that much with all your workouts being in your living room. That's massively impressive. Kudos to you!!! Literally...have a Kudo bar. Haha.

Gracias.

I actually find it easier to work out in my living room than in a gym. With two kids and the wife, my free time is rather limited. So every weekday morning, I wake up at 5AM and do something in the living room. P90X, my elliptical, Insanity, Atletica, kickboxing...something. Then I go take my shower and get ready for the day. It's become just the normal morning routine since it's done without any distractions from the family.

[The Jackal]

Originally Posted by Blackadar

He does this routine a couple more times until finally he looks me square in the eye and says, "You need to lose some weight because...YOU'RE FAT!"

hahaha

and thanks. I've been pretty strict with my diet this past year, so I'm expecting results. I have a history of high cholesterol in my family so I wanted to meet this thing head on earlier in life, and avoid taking any pills.

[The Jackal]

All my workouts are in my living room too - just on the exercise bike. Good ol' cardio. Occasional shadow boxing too. I don't like going to gyms, especially without having a car because I'm in the city.

[DaddyTorgo]

Originally Posted by Blackadar

Good luck!

Reminds me of a doctor's visit a few years ago. I came in rather overweight with a family history of diabetes, heart problems, etc. So they did all the blood work on me, sent it out and then had me back in to discuss the results.

Doctor looks at me, shakes his head and says, "You need to lose some weight because..." and then glances down at the sheet. "Hmmm...blood sugar is fine".

Looks at me again and says, "You need to lose some weight because..." and looks over his sheet. "Cholesterol is really good."

"You need to lose some weight because..."...checks his sheet..."blood pressure is better than normal."

He does this routine a couple more times until finally he looks me square in the eye and says, "You need to lose some weight because...YOU'RE FAT!"

Haha...nice story. I find that a reasonable helping of reminding myself that I'm still fat is actually useful in motivating me. Now given, I'm not AS fat as I was, but it's still helpful.

I need to make a doctor's appointment with my GP. Actually I might need a new GP...my old guy has moved into offices in the city.

[DaddyTorgo]

193.2

Shooting for the 192's by tomorrow...

[DaddyTorgo]

Originally Posted by DaddyTorgo

193.2

Shooting for the 192's by tomorrow...

well fuck me sideways



That's better than I was expecting. Getting down towards my goal...minimum of 10lbs left to go, maybe more like 15. I'm still at a not-tight-but-not-loose 36 waist, and it'd be really great to get that down to a 34...although working out and doing core exercises to get rid of the rest of the belly fat will doubtless aid in that too.

[The Jackal]

Awesome!

[DaddyTorgo]

Getting to awesome. Not quite there yet. A job partially-finished is a job incomplete! Must...remain...vigilant.

Thanks though!! I'm definitely happy!!

[Blackadar]

DT, just curious...how tall are you?

[DaddyTorgo]

Originally Posted by Blackadar

DT, just curious...how tall are you?

I don't think you have to preface that with a "just curious" Blackadar - not like we're holding anything back here.

I'm 6ft even.

Take after my father's side of the family with a barrel-chested build rather than a skinnier build though.

[The Jackal]

Originally Posted by DaddyTorgo

Getting to awesome. Not quite there yet. A job partially-finished is a job incomplete! Must...remain...vigilant.

Thanks though!! I'm definitely happy!!

You have a right to be happy, I'm sticking with awesome. I didn't think there was much risk of you seeing this as a reason to slack off. I'll come up with a super badass adjective for when you reach the ultimate goal. Though we both know maintaining is the hardest part.