The Officialish FOFC Weight Loss Dynasty

[PilotMan]

I weighed in this morning at 284.8, which is down 5 pounds since Sunday. This is very typical for a first week so I'm trying not to get too excited about it, but it does feel like progress. I have been on the road since Sunday, and I have tried to cut out the bad snacks in the plane. Also, I haven't had a soda since Monday. I won't lie, it's been a challenge. Every day, in fact, every 30 minutes seems like a challenge. Thanks for the advice guys. I appreciate the time and thought on it.

[Blackadar]

No weight check-in for me for a while. I've been on the road on business and tomorrow morning I leave to drive to FL for my cruise.

I'll post the inevitable damage when I get back. Vegas odds-makers have the line at +7 (lbs).

[rowech]

In a fit of rage over lost weight, I just set my mind to running a 10K this morning. Never done it before, all flat treadmill which is easier than running outside on an 80 degree day. My previous longest run was 5 miles. Now though I can say that I ran a 10K. Took 67:41 but I did the damn thing.

[DaddyTorgo]

Originally Posted by PilotMan

I weighed in this morning at 284.8, which is down 5 pounds since Sunday. This is very typical for a first week so I'm trying not to get too excited about it, but it does feel like progress. I have been on the road since Sunday, and I have tried to cut out the bad snacks in the plane. Also, I haven't had a soda since Monday. I won't lie, it's been a challenge. Every day, in fact, every 30 minutes seems like a challenge. Thanks for the advice guys. I appreciate the time and thought on it.

Hey - we both know it's a typical first week, but you should absolutely celebrate the progress and the loss and use it to fuel the fire of your resolve.

Cutting out soda cold-turkey like that is tough I'm sure (I'm lucky I was never a huge soda guy), so kudos on that!!

Just keep fighting the good fight man, and if your resolve starts to waver and you start craving something you know intellectually you shouldn't have just like...distract yourself. Remove yourself away from temptation ya know (although I'm sure in airports that's damn near impossible).

[DaddyTorgo]

Originally Posted by rowech

In a fit of rage over lost weight, I just set my mind to running a 10K this morning. Never done it before, all flat treadmill which is easier than running outside on an 80 degree day. My previous longest run was 5 miles. Now though I can say that I ran a 10K. Took 67:41 but I did the damn thing.

fuck yeah you did! way to go dude!!!

[rowech]

And what do I get for running 6.25 miles? That's right...a gain of a pound. WTF is going on right now?

[DaddyTorgo]

Originally Posted by rowech

And what do I get for running 6.25 miles? That's right...a gain of a pound. WTF is going on right now?

That's frigging irritating. Reminds me of when I did the Walk for Hunger and didn't end up losing any weight that weekend.

Did you maybe hydrate more than usual so it's water-weight?

[PilotMan]

I know from history that my weight can vary by 3 pounds up or down on just about any given day. It's the trend that I need to be careful of.

[The Jackal]

1) water weight

2) muscles weigh more than fat, and running that much develops muscles

[DaddyTorgo]

186.4 this morning. That's back to -76lbs overall. Which is where I was before I gained that 3lbs a couple weeks back. Looks like the new exercise routine is being effective.

Heading back down towards my next checkpoint/ultimate goal of -80ish lbs.

[DaddyTorgo]

185.8!

New low. Gettin down to where I want to be...

[rowech]

I've been doing some reading and have some questions. Here are my numbers from my scale...while not perfect, it surely is in the ballpark.

Now weiging in at 251.4 with 28.4% body fat and right about 50% water.

Prior to starting to lift weights my numbers were 248 with 29.3% body fat, not sure about water.

From what I've read, that water percentage is way too low. Does anyone kno enough to say for certain that's a problem?

From what I've read, it's important to have weight training and cardio part to exercise but I'm wondering if I shouldn't be weight training at all given the fact I still want to lose weight? Can I lose weight if I'm lifting or is that chasing windmills?

[DaddyTorgo]

Was down to 186-flat/185.8 on Saturday morning. Up to 186.8 after yesterday - which isn't a huge surprise as it wasn't the most disciplined food-weekend, but there might also be some daily fluctuation in there. We'll see.

[DaddyTorgo]

Originally Posted by rowech

I've been doing some reading and have some questions. Here are my numbers from my scale...while not perfect, it surely is in the ballpark.

Now weiging in at 251.4 with 28.4% body fat and right about 50% water.

Prior to starting to lift weights my numbers were 248 with 29.3% body fat, not sure about water.

From what I've read, that water percentage is way too low. Does anyone kno enough to say for certain that's a problem?

From what I've read, it's important to have weight training and cardio part to exercise but I'm wondering if I shouldn't be weight training at all given the fact I still want to lose weight? Can I lose weight if I'm lifting or is that chasing windmills?

You'll get different views on this on here. You can certainly lose weight while lifting though, so in a "yes/no" world the answer is yes.

All the weight I've lost I've done through cardio to-date (although to be fair I've been increasing resistance on the elliptical to keep building the leg muscles as I go, and monitoring my skeletal muscle %). Someone like Blackadar has lost a ton through lifting weights/other excercise type programs.

I personally think if you're just lifting weights it's going to be difficult to lose the weight at a pace that's going to keep you motivated precisely because you're going to be building that muscle mass (although you'll be reshaping your body, which is nice).

I think in a perfect world you want to do a good deal of cardio, but also work in some strength training so that you continue to build lean muscle mass. The problem with doing all-cardio is that you can start to burn your muscle rather than your fat, so if you do some strength training you'll keep the skeletal muscle percentage relatively consistent while burning off the fat.

My approach to it, frankly was "I have 80 pounds to lose. That's a ton of weight! I'm going to do straight cardio and try to burn off a ton of the weight and get down close to my goal weight, and then work back in the strength training as I reduce cardio in order to have a long-term exercise program."

I knew that I wanted to keep seeing consistent weight loss on the scale in order to keep myself motivated, and that if I messed around with building muscle mass at the same time it would be too easy to justify overeating, or cheating on my food consumption, or seeing the numbers on the scale going in the wrong direction. I've toyed around with lifting weights at a couple points within the process (and adding more protien back into my diet to assist with building the muscle) and found that at least for me it tended to cause me to plateau. And I wasn't comfortable with even like...temporary plateaus on the way down.

I started right around where you are now. And now I'm maybe...4-8lbs away from working the strength training back in to things and establishing my long-term program. In 10 months. Despite a couple of plateaus (probably a month's worth of plateaus total).

I think the key is really finding a program that works for you personally, that will keep you motivated to do it everyday with 100% effort. For me personally that's cardio, because once I get on that elliptical and set the program...I commit myself 100% to finishing the program. No stopping early or dialing down the intensity...I power through that shit. Whereas with weights, with me personally it was too easy before to say "man I can't lift this damn weight another time. So what if I've only done 6 of my 10 reps? I hurt."

Pretty sure that whichever side of the "cardio vs. strength" debate we come down on we can all agree that it's about finding something that you can commit to with 100% enthusiasm on a regular (ideally daily) basis.

Does that help at all? I gotta go to the gym and rip out my cardio now. 21 minutes of high-resistance (14) and lower RPM (130ish), followed after a 5 minute water break by 21 minutes of lower-resistance (10) and higher RPM (170ish).

[Dodgerchick]

Originally Posted by rowech

In a fit of rage over lost weight, I just set my mind to running a 10K this morning. Never done it before, all flat treadmill which is easier than running outside on an 80 degree day. My previous longest run was 5 miles. Now though I can say that I ran a 10K. Took 67:41 but I did the damn thing.

WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOT!!! Fucking awesome man, you go!

[DaddyTorgo]

185.4

New low. Now to keep the trend going downward/steady over the weekend.

[cschex]

238 even this morning, down 13.2 lbs in just over a month. I'm having to wear a belt with my jeans or they are actually slipping off.

[DaddyTorgo]

Originally Posted by cschex

I'm having to wear a belt with my jeans or they are actually slipping off.

Best feeling ever.

I had to bury all my "fat clothes" in my closet and I'm down to only 1 pair of jeans and 2 pairs of shorts that really fit (along with a new pair of khakhis and a new suit). And now i'm at the point where I have to wear a belt with the jeans and shorts (because they're 2-3 sizes too big also).

Loving it. Hmm...maybe I'm addicted to losing weight?

[hoopsguy]

Originally Posted by hoopsguy

End of month update - 179.3 represents a loss of 1.2 pounds on the month.

I was having a pretty good month until the last week. Weight had gotten as low as 177.1, but Memorial Day plans and hectic work hours kept me from getting workouts in for a couple days. That, plus a couple too many beers pushed my weight back up a little bit.

I'll be working on the 5AM thing this month so I can be more regular about the "30 Day Shred" video. I want to do level 2 at least 12 times this month after doing Level 1 maybe 7-8 times in May. I'm also going to adopt the journal approach for my exercise and eating, something I've only done for running up to this point.

All in all, not happy with the number today but feeling OK about the progress over three months. I'm down 9 pounds out of the 23 that I want to lose (25% of time elapsed) so I'm tracking OK towards the larger goal. I'm down about 1 1/2 sizes on my belt since the start (2 when I squeeze it a bit, but I've only done this once or twice) and I'm starting to see something resembling muscle definition when I look in the mirror.

That said, I'll be mad at myself if the 7/1 post doesn't have me under 175.

Weighed in at 178.9 this morning, which is about the highest I've weighed all month and up 2.5 pounds from yesterday. Pretty disappointing, given that I spent virtually the whole month in the 176-177 range and had dipped under 175 for a little while. I understand the whole variance thing, but still annoying to have happen on the monthly weigh-in.

Working out was basically shot this month, so the very slight gain was purely driven by some dietary discretion. Soccer is also over now, so I'm going to find my way back onto the treadmill and hitting up the videos. If this doesn't help get me to commit to 5AM in a meaningful way, I don't know what will.

[hoopsguy]

Originally Posted by hoopsguy

Weighed in at 178.9 this morning, which is about the highest I've weighed all month and up 2.5 pounds from yesterday. Pretty disappointing, given that I spent virtually the whole month in the 176-177 range and had dipped under 175 for a little while. I understand the whole variance thing, but still annoying to have happen on the monthly weigh-in.

Working out was basically shot this month, so the very slight gain was purely driven by some dietary discretion. Soccer is also over now, so I'm going to find my way back onto the treadmill and hitting up the videos. If this doesn't help get me to commit to 5AM in a meaningful way, I don't know what will.

Hmm, re-weighed in this morning at 176.2 right before stepping into the shower. Checked it twice, same result both times. This just adds to my general distrust of this scale, but I'm banking this result because it makes me feel better (I was pretty darn strict on diet this month) and also because it is more consistent with everything I saw for the 30 days than the weight reported above.

So down 3.1 pounds for the month, which is pretty consistent with what I've done in earlier months of dieting.

I suspect I won't have more 3 pound months solely on diet, and that future productive months will have to be driven by markedly increased exercise. I'm about halfway to my goal weight for next March, but it has obviously been the easier half and I still haven't radically altered my exercise routine to where it is habit. More like fits and starts. That is a mix of good/bad news, I suppose.

Anyway, (pre) 5AM workouts will start next Tuesday in conjunction with starting my new job. Just trying to work out how early I'll need to be up to do all morning stuff for me + kid while catching a 6:45 AM train. Glad I have 3 days to rest this weekend before starting

[Blackadar]

Wow, this thread got a little slow.

I'm back from vacation, up 5 pounds at 209. It just goes to show how important diet is since I worked out like a champ while on the cruise ship but still gained weight. Oh well, back to the real world and more dietary controls...

[cschex]

237.4 this morning. Weight loss slowing down as expected, will probably be increasing bike resistance level again this week

[Dodgerchick]

194.0

Went on a mini-vacation and tried to stay on track as much as possible, but did eat stuff I shouldn't of. Last exercise was Zumba on Thursday. I think the hardest thing for me is eating late at night.

[The Jackal]

Damned mini-vacations! I had way too much picnic food (read: meat, mayo) this weekend, though I didn't seem to gain much weight. Hovering around 190. Being forced to remove alcohol from my diet because of some steroids/anti-inflammatory medicine I'm about to take for my back, so the weight should keep going down!

[Blackadar]

Originally Posted by The Jackal

Damned mini-vacations! I had way too much picnic food (read: meat, mayo) this weekend, though I didn't seem to gain much weight. Hovering around 190. Being forced to remove alcohol from my diet because of some steroids/anti-inflammatory medicine I'm about to take for my back, so the weight should keep going down!

Sorry about your back, but forgoing alcohol should help your weight.

208 this morning. That's now +4 from my cruise, so I'm not happy. Considering I weighed in at a whopping 212 the day I returned, that's also -4 from my high point....so I'm not entirely displeased either. I'll probably go hiking this weekend and that's always good for another pound or two.

[DaddyTorgo]

Seem to be on a stupid plateau right around the end here - might be that changing up my workout the way I did didn't really help or something. Not really gaining or losing at the moment - just within a narrow little band over the last week or so.

186.2.

Want to see it down below 185 before the weekend.

Had a salad for dinner last night, but also 3 pieces of (restauruant) garlic toast - I probably should have held off on the bread I guess, maybe that would have had me down in the 185.somethings.

Had a salad earlier this week also. If this plateau persists for another week or so then I'll think about really changing up the workout to get these last 3-8lbs off.

[Dodgerchick]

192.8

Back on track

[DaddyTorgo]

Well i got impatient and tweaked it today. 49 minutes at lower resistance (#10) and higher RPM (170-180) the whole time.

We'll see how that lends itself to results.

[Blackadar]

209 this morning. Grrr...

[DaddyTorgo]

Well...changing up my workout seems to have helped.

184.6 this morning. New low. And into the 184s before the weekend too, which was what I wanted.

Hooray.

[hoopsguy]

175.3 today, put on a couple of pounds over the 4th but I've gotten semi-regular workouts in this week and had pretty good discipline. I'm also planning to take workout gear for our family vacation this weekend, something I probably would not have done even last month.

I started my new job this week. I'm trying to avoid falling into bad eating habits; there are some pretty healthy options close to the office. Lunch has been the one meal where I've lacked discipline, so if I can even marginally improve here I think it will pay dividends.

[The Jackal]

188.4 today, headed in the right direction.

[Dodgerchick]

192.0

Lost 2 lbs. in 3 days, very happy right now. For breakfast I have about 30 oz. of green lemonade and snack on fruits, veggies and nuts til lunchtime.

[DaddyTorgo]

Nice DC!!!

184.4 today...maintaining.

Might have overeaten a tiny bit today - we'll see.

[hoopsguy]

No weigh-ins on vacation today, but had a good day.

Got up and ran for maybe 15-20 minutes ... outdoor is obviously different than the treadmill. I'm sure my pace was all wrong, as I wasn't able to run as far as I wanted to go. But I'm glad I got out and got some exercise.

Then I was at the water park for about 3.5 hours with my daughter. I love stuff like that, so it is nice to have my kid as an excuse to get out there on rides like this But it was also nice to feel better about how I looked without a shirt on. I'm certainly not all ripped up, but having shed 13 pounds over the last four months made it more comfortable to be running around in just swim trunks. It was one of the nice payoffs for the effort I've put in losing weight since March. Hopefully the next vacation a year from now is even more gratifying in that respect.

[Dodgerchick]

Nice going DT and hoops!

189.8

Haven't been under 190 since December. Im gonna go shopping for a few outfits after every 20 lb loss, I have 10 lbs to go.

[The Jackal]

Originally Posted by hoopsguy

But it was also nice to feel better about how I looked without a shirt on. I'm certainly not all ripped up, but having shed 13 pounds over the last four months made it more comfortable to be running around in just swim trunks. It was one of the nice payoffs for the effort I've put in losing weight since March. Hopefully the next vacation a year from now is even more gratifying in that respect.

I can echo this sentiment, spent the day yesterday at the beach and I'm about 35 pounds less than I was last time I was going around shirtless. Even though there's still a bunch of ripped, tanned guys walking around, no longer do I feel self conscious about the gut!

Hovering around 187-190 right now, haven't been able to exercise at all much lately while recovering from this pinched nerve. Only two days of steroids left than an indefinite time on a special anti-inflammatory. Got 15 minutes in on the bike today, going to buy a few free weights to work on this supposed "pectoral atrophy" that I have too. Almost at my target weight of 185, I figure I can maintain between 180-185 and enjoy food/drink in moderation. Still have to watch the saturated fat for my cholesterol but I'll be very interested to see where it's at by the end of the year.

Keep up the good work everyone!

[DaddyTorgo]

Originally Posted by The Jackal

I can echo this sentiment, spent the day yesterday at the beach and I'm about 35 pounds less than I was last time I was going around shirtless. Even though there's still a bunch of ripped, tanned guys walking around, no longer do I feel self conscious about the gut!

Hovering around 187-190 right now, haven't been able to exercise at all much lately while recovering from this pinched nerve. Only two days of steroids left than an indefinite time on a special anti-inflammatory. Got 15 minutes in on the bike today, going to buy a few free weights to work on this supposed "pectoral atrophy" that I have too. Almost at my target weight of 185, I figure I can maintain between 180-185 and enjoy food/drink in moderation. Still have to watch the saturated fat for my cholesterol but I'll be very interested to see where it's at by the end of the year.

Keep up the good work everyone!

This is me too. Was in the pool the other day here at my complex and actually didn't feel self-conscious!!

Also sort of my plan to have a target weight between 180-185 and enjoy in moderation. Feel like I'm just about there - want to get down a smidge below 180 and then build some muscle up.

184.2 this morning.

[Dodgerchick]

189.0

yay!

[Blackadar]

Congrats on breaking 190 Dodger!

209.5 this morning. I haven't been able to get back into the proper diet mode since I got off the cruise. After the cruise, each of my kids went with a set of grandparents, so we've been eating out a lot. It's hard to lose weight eating wings, Italian and Japanese food. Stuff has been conspiring to get me - like my wife ordering Tiramisu at Carrabbas or going to the ice cream store after eating Japanese and finding out their "regular" seems like about half a gallon of ice cream only after ordering it. Snacking has been my enemy lately too - too much trail mix, chocolate, etc., which stems from the that stuff being so available on the cruise.

I haven't stopped working out, so it's not a total loss, but it's time to get back on the bandwagon.

[DaddyTorgo]

Was down to 184.2 the other day. Missed my workout yesterday (but didn't eat bad at all), up to 186.8 today.

Seem to be yo-yo-ing in this same range. Hopeful that with a workout today and also working out both days this weekend (since yesterday was my day off for the week) that I'll be able to hit new lows though.

Eating has been good, so I dunno.

[The Jackal]

Water weight, probably.

[The Jackal]

And congrats DC!

[DaddyTorgo]

Originally Posted by The Jackal

Water weight, probably.

Most likely. I don't tolerate weight gain well these days.

[hoopsguy]

Back down to 174.6 this morning.

It took a couple of days to shake off the impact of eating at Kopps on the way out of Wisconsin. They have the best burgers I've tasted, and since it was my first time there in about 6-7 years I ordered the double cheeseburger. I'm guessing that was close to a pound of heart attack, and I felt guilty slugging through the last third of it but it was so damn good. I felt so guilty that I didn't order their delicious frozen custard, but when my daughter was full I ended up eating about 2/3 of her scoop. So the scale was not friendly on Monday

[Blackadar]

209 this AM.

At least the needle is pointing back in the right direction.

[DaddyTorgo]

183.2 this morning!! 79lbs!!

[hoopsguy]

175.5 this morning, which is a little higher than I had expected to be this morning. I had a pretty disciplined day of eating yesterday and got a ton of exercise, so I was definitely hoping to see the weight down rather than up a pound.

Oh well, doing the right things long term will result in good results even if the short term reading on the scale isn't where I wanted it.

[DaddyTorgo]

183.4 this morning.

Thinking I should be in the 182's tomorrow morning, which will be 80lbs and is essentially where I want to be at. Now I just need to tone things up a bit more (which will involve losing another 4-6 lbs just so that I have some room to put some muscle-weight back on and end up at like 180-182).

[The Jackal]

Awesome DT.