The Officialish FOFC Weight Loss Dynasty

[Radii]

Thanks for the warm welcome ksyrup and dodgerchick.

Originally Posted by Ksyrup

FWIW, I've found that as easy as it has been for me to gain the weight, it has been, well, maybe not AS easy to lose it, but certainly, it has come off faster than I expected.

If I do things right, if I really fix things right away(no sodas, no slipups, actually get into induction for atkins/south beach/wahtever low carb thing this is, and EXERCISE) I expect my early progress to be similar to yours with relatively large, consistant loss in the first month or so. I've certainly done this successfully in the past and lost a good amount of weight right away.


I will let you know about South Beach, dodgerchick, its definitely something to consider. In the past when I've had success its been on a pretty strict atkins diet, that is my first thought when it comes to dieting again.

[DolphinFan1]

I just found this dynasty. I am a little late. My report will be post weight loss diet.

About one year ago I weighed 200 lbs. I could never lose weight and keep it off. I was an Ice Cream junkie. I ate about 1/2 gallon a week. I saw a report in the paper that the average American eats 6 gallons a year. I ate 26 a year!
I did a lot of reading. About 9 months ago my family and I started eating organic fruits and veggies. Now we eat about 90% organic. I am down to 175 lbs. I eat about the same as before but I don't gain weight. I get 4-5 hours sleep a night and I have a lot more energy.
My wife has lost weight and feels better. Also my kids are not hyper even when they eat sweets as I make all my own cookies, muffins, brownies and breads with all organic ingredients.

[Sublime 2]

Background

Like Radii, I feel the need to get into this. I'm 21, in my senior year at college and weigh 270 at 5'10". Growing up I've always been an athlete, in high school I played varsity soccer, basketball, and tennis. I was always a bit bigger than everyone else, but usually hovered around 170-185. During high school at some point I tore my meniscus in my knee, but decided I wanted to finish up my high school athletic time before I had my surgery. As soon as I got to college, the university diet killed me, plus I couldn't really exercise due to my knee being impossible. I had surgery sophomore year, which was great, i started exercising again and dropped 15-20 pounds. Unfortunately, my knee started acting up again, and found out I still had a partial tear and scar tissue. So I have surgery scheduled 2 days after X-Mas this year, but this limits my exercise possibilities until then.

Goal

Ideally, I'd like to drop down to my high school weight, 180 or so but anywhere under 200 I would be ecstatic. I'm not too sure what a good timetable on this is...I've never really had to diet before, since i was so active when i was younger.

Problems

Aside from the knee problem, there are couple things that are killing my weight. First off, I'm a weekend alcoholic, like many college students. I feel though that I'm above and beyond many, drinking 40-50 beers a weekend. It's tough being in college to cut that out, but I think I can reduce my drinking to once a week. Second, the college diet, it's a killer. To go along w/ the drinking, there's usually the drunk off your ass cooking at 3am. But I am in an apartment off-campus now so I can buy my own groceries and eat healthier than on-campus.

Exercise

The knee thing really is a problem until it's fixed this winter. I really can't do much of anything, except walk (and my knee still locks up). The good thing is, I can walk to my classes and back to my apartment (about 3 miles total), and do that 3 times a week. I'll be doing pushups and situps as well.

Diet?

I'm hoping that's where some of you guys can help me out. I'm not really sure what to eat. I don't drink soda, which is a plus. I need to cut out snack foods, especially after dinner. Any suggestions would be great help. I do like chicken and some fish so I could do something like that. But good side dishes, i don't know. Portions is another thing I def. need to cut down on.

Soo...here goes nothing!

[DolphinFan1]

Originally Posted by Sublime 2

Background

Like Radii, I feel the need to get into this. I'm 21, in my senior year at college and weigh 270 at 5'10". Growing up I've always been an athlete, in high school I played varsity soccer, basketball, and tennis. I was always a bit bigger than everyone else, but usually hovered around 170-185. During high school at some point I tore my meniscus in my knee, but decided I wanted to finish up my high school athletic time before I had my surgery. As soon as I got to college, the university diet killed me, plus I couldn't really exercise due to my knee being impossible. I had surgery sophomore year, which was great, i started exercising again and dropped 15-20 pounds. Unfortunately, my knee started acting up again, and found out I still had a partial tear and scar tissue. So I have surgery scheduled 2 days after X-Mas this year, but this limits my exercise possibilities until then.

Goal

Ideally, I'd like to drop down to my high school weight, 180 or so but anywhere under 200 I would be ecstatic. I'm not too sure what a good timetable on this is...I've never really had to diet before, since i was so active when i was younger.

Problems

Aside from the knee problem, there are couple things that are killing my weight. First off, I'm a weekend alcoholic, like many college students. I feel though that I'm above and beyond many, drinking 40-50 beers a weekend. It's tough being in college to cut that out, but I think I can reduce my drinking to once a week. Second, the college diet, it's a killer. To go along w/ the drinking, there's usually the drunk off your ass cooking at 3am. But I am in an apartment off-campus now so I can buy my own groceries and eat healthier than on-campus.

Exercise

The knee thing really is a problem until it's fixed this winter. I really can't do much of anything, except walk (and my knee still locks up). The good thing is, I can walk to my classes and back to my apartment (about 3 miles total), and do that 3 times a week. I'll be doing pushups and situps as well.

Diet?

I'm hoping that's where some of you guys can help me out. I'm not really sure what to eat. I don't drink soda, which is a plus. I need to cut out snack foods, especially after dinner. Any suggestions would be great help. I do like chicken and some fish so I could do something like that. But good side dishes, i don't know. Portions is another thing I def. need to cut down on.

Soo...here goes nothing!

Here's the #1 thing I found out with all the reading I do. Forget about organic for now. If you read the ingredients in most everything you eat you'll notice a few constants. High Fructose Corn Syrup is an artificial sweetener and is a weight gainer. Also all your other artificial sweeteners are not good for your body. It can't use them. Also anything with artificial coloring isn't good. Low fat with no calories isn't good. Why? Because with no calories you are still hungry and eat more of something. Mostly though it's the artificial stuff. Since My family and I have started this and paid attention to the ingredients list, we have been amazed at the turnaround.

[Godzilla Blitz]

Great thread. I'll jump in as well, although I started about two months ago.

Background
I played a lot of sports in high school, college, and beyond, and have generally been in good shape throughtout my school years and the earlier years after graduation. I've done a few long distance events (marathons, long triathlons, long cross-country ski races). At one point, I exercised at least 20 minutes/day every day for over four and a half years. Ideal weight when in good shape is about 187-191 pounds, on a 6'1" frame.

However, over the past ten years I've slowly gained about a pound or two per year. Thanks to the no-soda dynasty, last year was the first year in the past ten years that I was able to not gain weight. The biggest problem, however, has been that the past five years I've cut back significantly on exercise. The last year or two, I've been simply awful. I'm pretty sure I've lost a lot of muscle weight and gained a lot of body fat to replace it. So although I'm ten pounds over ideal weight, I bet I'm more like twenty pounds overweight. I'm in crappy shape as well.

The Goal
I'd like to be in good shape again and consistently be able to weigh in at 187-191 pounds.

The Plan
Reduce weight and increase muscle mass through consistent exercise and better dietary habits.

Exercise
My plan is to exercise Monday through Saturday for at least twenty minutes, and stretch on Sundays for 20 minutes. Also, I want to try to do little sets of situps and pushups during the day, with the aim of getting in 30+ situps and pushups a day. I'd also like to try and add in some "active tasks" like lawn mowing, walking, etc. to burn off more calories during the day. At some point, I'll like to add weightlifting, but I'll see how things go before adding this.

Diet
For the most part, I'm not really going to modify much here. I want to:

• Eat better food
• Reduce the post-dinner/late-night eating
• Limit soda consumption to one/week
• Eliminate alcohol

Starting Weight: 201 pounds.

[Godzilla Blitz]

Progress to date: Two-month mark

Starting Weight: 201 pounds
Current Weight: 196.5 pounds (-4.5 pounds)

Exercise
So far I've been able to stick to the 6 days exercise/1 day of stretching regimen. I've run three times/week, and then either rollerbladed or used the Yourself Fitness program on the Xbox for the other three workouts. I've been gradually increasing the total exercise time as well. Last Friday I went for a 46-minute run, which is the longest I've run in quite a few years. My body seems to be holding up pretty well, and an ache in my right hip and a stiff right shouder that bothered me during the first month have gotten better as I've gotten in better shape.

Diet
Diet-wise, I want to do better. I still haven't had any soda at all. I've stayed alcohol free as well. Chocolate and Halloween, however, have been gotten the better of me. I raided about half the supply of candy that we bought to give out on Halloween, and have quit chocolate four times in the past ten days. Once I have one piece, I just can't stop. There have been three days when I've eaten at least 15 of those bite-size chocolate treats (Heath bars, Rolos, Twix bars). Also, I've eaten more crap and less good stuff in the past month. I can do better here.

Thoughts
I'm happy with the results so far. It feels great to be exercising consistently again, and I've lost nearly five pounds in weight. Still, I feel like I have a long way to go. A "normal" running pace used to be seven-minute miles for me, and now I'm knocking off miles in about eight and a half minutes. Although this is faster than the nine-minute miles I was doing when I started, I want to be lighter and faster.

Interestingly, over the first month of this plan I actually gained five pounds. I hit 206 pounds a month ago, which is the heaviest I've ever been. I'm guessing this is from adding muscle faster than I've lost fat. I've been glad to have been dropping weight the past month.

For the next month, I'm planning to keep up what I've been doing exercise-wise, and try to eat more fruits and veggies.

[Lorena]

Well, my diet didn't go well and it had nothing to do with Halloween. I stayed away from all candy, but Antmeister had an office potluck and returned home with some food, so adios diet.

Since Tuesday's my gym day, I didn't go because of Halloween. So I worked out twice this week, no walks or jogs.

Bad week and I gained a pound because of it:

Stats
Starting weight (09/09/06): 194.4
Current Weight (11/05/06): 188.0
Gain this week: +1.0 lbs
Total loss: - 6.4 lbs
Loss needed to reach desired goal: 63 lbs.

Plans upcoming week:
Stick with the gym 3 times a week, maybe have one of those be a 1 hour workout, and mix in a jog. Walk with son most days of the week, if weather permits.



I just looked at my stats and looks like I've lost 6.4 lbs in almost 2 months... 3.2 lbs a month... wow, I expected at least a 10 lbs weight loss. Well, I lost a ton of inches, so I think gaining muscle might have something to do with it.

How in the hell to those people on The Biggest Loser lose so much damn weight? I'd like to know.

Anyway, good luck everyone. Ksyrup, you're kicking everyone's ass... keep up the good work!

[Ksyrup]

I guess I need to update for this week - completely forgot. Pretty much a carbon copy of last week, so at least I'm still steadily losing weight. If it wasn't for the exercise, I'm sure I'd be at a stand-still. I've finally gotten to a weight that has allowed me to make the big switch to the clothes I've had in storage for a few years. Some are a little tight, but the big clothes had gotten so big it was almost impossible to wear them anymore. If I can keep up with the 3-3.5 pounds per week average, I hope to be around 180 by December 1.

Start: 225.0 lbs (9/10/06)
Previous: 193.5 lbs (10/29/06)
Current: 190.0 lbs (11/05/06)
Goal: 175 lbs (3/31/07)
Total Loss: 35.0 lbs

[Fouts]

Originally Posted by Ksyrup

I guess I need to update for this week - completely forgot. Pretty much a carbon copy of last week, so at least I'm still steadily losing weight. If it wasn't for the exercise, I'm sure I'd be at a stand-still. I've finally gotten to a weight that has allowed me to make the big switch to the clothes I've had in storage for a few years. Some are a little tight, but the big clothes had gotten so big it was almost impossible to wear them anymore. If I can keep up with the 3-3.5 pounds per week average, I hope to be around 180 by December 1.

Start: 225.0 lbs (9/10/06)
Previous: 193.5 lbs (10/29/06)
Current: 190.0 lbs (11/05/06)
Goal: 175 lbs (3/31/07)
Total Loss: 35.0 lbs

Wow, 35 lbs in 2 months. Very impressive. Congrats!

[Ksyrup]

Thanks! I'm pretty amazed myself. I had pretty much figured it would take 5-6 months to lose 50 pounds; now it looks like I might get there (holidays be damned!) by the end of the year, easily. We'll see how things go over Thanksgiving, though.

[Sublime 2]

Well it's only been 6 days, but I'm not sure how much I'll be around tomorrow in the morning/afternoon to weigh-in/post. I've completely changed my diet, which surprisingly has been fairly easy. I've never been a breakfast person, but atleast now I'm starting my day off with some green tea, get that metabolism going. I've kept up with walking to class, which has been about 9 miles in a week. My knee has held up as well so far, which is good.

For now my overall target weight is 190 lbs. But I think I'm going to set up a goal system, to begin with 250, or 20 lbs lost. Maybe I can challenge KSyrup's amazing run!

Start:        270.0 lbs  (11/3/06)
Current:      264.5 lbs  (11/9/06)
Week Loss:      5.5 lbs
Total Loss:     5.5 lbs

Loss Needed:   14.5 lbs

[Lorena]

Originally Posted by Sublime 2

Well it's only been 6 days, but I'm not sure how much I'll be around tomorrow in the morning/afternoon to weigh-in/post. I've completely changed my diet, which surprisingly has been fairly easy. I've never been a breakfast person, but atleast now I'm starting my day off with some green tea, get that metabolism going. I've kept up with walking to class, which has been about 9 miles in a week. My knee has held up as well so far, which is good.

For now my overall target weight is 190 lbs. But I think I'm going to set up a goal system, to begin with 250, or 20 lbs lost. Maybe I can challenge KSyrup's amazing run!

Start:        270.0 lbs  (11/3/06)
Current:      264.5 lbs  (11/9/06)
Week Loss:      5.5 lbs
Total Loss:     5.5 lbs

Loss Needed:   14.5 lbs

That's a good start sublime! I noticed I don't get as hungry when I drink green tea as well, love that stuff. Keep up the good work!!

Cheers

Oh and Vote Sublime 2

[Lorena]

My workouts went well, 3x this week with one of them being 1 hour, so I'm pretty stoked about that. My diet went well with the exception of yesterday when we totally messed up, but once out of the whole week ain't bad.

Stats
Starting weight (09/09/06): 194.4
Current Weight (11/12/06): 186.2
Loss this week: -1.8 lbs
Total loss: - 8.2 lbs
Loss needed to reach desired goal: 61.2 lbs.

Not bad, but I was aiming at 2 lbs. weight loss; dinner yesterday messed me up. Oh well, I'm a try for 2 lb weight loss next week. Even though I've only lost 8.2 lbs. my clothes feel relatively loose and I've been able to wear some stuff that I hadn't been able to wear in a while.

Good luck to all next week.

[Ksyrup]

The weight loss continues to be fairly consistent - this week I lost another 4 pounds. The next two weeks should be a good challenge, though. I'll be out of the office for most of Tuesday and Wednesday for work, and then Saturday, we drive to Dallas for Thanksgiving with my family. Lots of opportunities to mess up. Just being off a strict schedule will be difficult. I intend to use next week's down time to work out often.

If things continue to go well, I'll have to think about revising my goal weight (and certainly, the timeline!). I did some research on "ideal weight" calculators and such online, and even with a "large frame," my ideal weight would be somewhere between 157 and 172. I'm thinking about going for 160 - that would give me a good middle ground and give me a few pounds leeway for when I start to eat a bit more normally (on occasion). But we'll see how it goes...the idea of losing ANOTHER 25 pounds seems almost impossible at this point, but it's gone so well up until now that I'm sure I can do it.

Start: 225.0 lbs (9/10/06)
Previous: 190.0 lbs (11/05/06)
Current: 186.0 lbs (11/12/06)
Goal: 175 lbs (3/31/07)
Total Loss: 39.0 lbs

[Lorena]

Well, Thanksgiving was tough and I have done really bad and gained several pounds. I will be measured sometime next week and I hope I lost at least a couple inches overall.

I need to find a healthier alternative for Christmas Dinner... any suggestions anyone?

[Greyroofoo]

Now that my back is feeling a bit better I'm going to hit the gym again. I probably won't be playing a lot of sports now (which is what causes me to hurt my back and prevents me from working out for weeks at a time). So looks like it'll be a lot of running for me.

[Ksyrup]

Back after a couple of weeks break. Well, a break from posting here, not dieting. In the past 2 weeks, I lost 6 pounds, which is pretty good considering Thanksgiving, not to mention I spent last week at my parents' house in Texas eating nothing but my mom's cooking or restaurant food.

I'm officially revising my goal weight to 165 lbs. I may be able to reach it by the end of the year; if not, shortly thereafter, so I've also revised the timeline to mid-January. The next 5-10 pounds are the most important, since I have a ton of clothes that will fit nicely in about 2-3 weeks (I hope). I'm actually looking forward to getting back into the swing of a normal eating/working out routine again.

Start: 225.0 lbs (9/10/06)
Previous: 186.0 lbs (11/12/06)
Current: 180.0 lbs (11/26/06)
Goal: 165 lbs (1/15/07)
Total Loss: 45.0 lbs

[Ksyrup]

Originally Posted by Dodgerchick

Well, Thanksgiving was tough and I have done really bad and gained several pounds. I will be measured sometime next week and I hope I lost at least a couple inches overall.

I need to find a healthier alternative for Christmas Dinner... any suggestions anyone?

For Thanksgiving, I ate pretty much everything that was served, except I had miniscule portions of each. And, I consciously ate very slowly so I could finish when everyone else did and avoid wanting to get seconds. It worked well.

[Radii]

Well its been a month since I posted here, I guess it took awhile to get up the steam to actually get started... I talked myself out of trips to the grocery store to get the food I need to start Atkins a number of times, but I've finally done it!

The last time I went to the doctor(last week for bronchitis) I weighed in at 355. That's... damn, that's high. I have gained weight like never before since July, when I was almost down to 300. The life changes and stress have definitely had me turning towards comfort foods and just not worrying about what I eat and eating out literally every meal for a few months. 355 is about 25 pounds more than I've ever been before, so this is a pretty big challenge, but its an important one too, I just don't feel good at this weight at all.


So I've made the switch to water, and to low carb foods, I made sure to bring a few different things into the office for snacks and lunches to keep me from being tempted to go out(or order in, which the rest of the office does a couple times a week).

I'm not really sure where I'll be able to weigh myself on a weekly basis for a little while, my scale isn't accurate over 320. We have a workout center in the office, but last time I checked, no scale there.

The plan for this week is just to stick to my guns and cook the meat I bought, eat the salad I've got, and get into induction in Atkins. I need to go for a walk a few days after work as well.

[MacroGuru]

Originally Posted by Radii

Well its been a month since I posted here, I guess it took awhile to get up the steam to actually get started... I talked myself out of trips to the grocery store to get the food I need to start Atkins a number of times, but I've finally done it!

The last time I went to the doctor(last week for bronchitis) I weighed in at 355. That's... damn, that's high. I have gained weight like never before since July, when I was almost down to 300. The life changes and stress have definitely had me turning towards comfort foods and just not worrying about what I eat and eating out literally every meal for a few months. 355 is about 25 pounds more than I've ever been before, so this is a pretty big challenge, but its an important one too, I just don't feel good at this weight at all.


So I've made the switch to water, and to low carb foods, I made sure to bring a few different things into the office for snacks and lunches to keep me from being tempted to go out(or order in, which the rest of the office does a couple times a week).

I'm not really sure where I'll be able to weigh myself on a weekly basis for a little while, my scale isn't accurate over 320. We have a workout center in the office, but last time I checked, no scale there.

The plan for this week is just to stick to my guns and cook the meat I bought, eat the salad I've got, and get into induction in Atkins. I need to go for a walk a few days after work as well.

Radii you can do it! Have faith! Push for it!

I dropped 35 pounds total in 3 1/2 weeks and I have been able to keep the bulk of it off. I did it through meal replacement shakes for breakfast and lunch, with citrus fruits between the two and between lunch and dinner, I then ate a healthy dinner.

But it was the cardio workout that I feel did the bulk of it. 30 minutes on a stair master broken down into 10 minute sets and a 1 to 2 minute break between them.With each set going up a difficulty level.

If you need anyone to talk to, PM me, I will help out as best as I can.

[Ksyrup]

35 pounds in 3 1/2 weeks!? Damn, I feel like a slacker!

Take the plunge, Radii. Once you start losing and see the results, it will be the perfect motivation to keep going and to stay focused. You just have to get yourself going first, which I know is not easy.

[Lorena]

Originally Posted by Radii

Well its been a month since I posted here, I guess it took awhile to get up the steam to actually get started... I talked myself out of trips to the grocery store to get the food I need to start Atkins a number of times, but I've finally done it!

The last time I went to the doctor(last week for bronchitis) I weighed in at 355. That's... damn, that's high. I have gained weight like never before since July, when I was almost down to 300. The life changes and stress have definitely had me turning towards comfort foods and just not worrying about what I eat and eating out literally every meal for a few months. 355 is about 25 pounds more than I've ever been before, so this is a pretty big challenge, but its an important one too, I just don't feel good at this weight at all.


So I've made the switch to water, and to low carb foods, I made sure to bring a few different things into the office for snacks and lunches to keep me from being tempted to go out(or order in, which the rest of the office does a couple times a week).

I'm not really sure where I'll be able to weigh myself on a weekly basis for a little while, my scale isn't accurate over 320. We have a workout center in the office, but last time I checked, no scale there.

The plan for this week is just to stick to my guns and cook the meat I bought, eat the salad I've got, and get into induction in Atkins. I need to go for a walk a few days after work as well.

You CAN do it Radii!! I have faith in you and the program you will be following. Eggs are a must have in our household and I can't imagine a breakfast without them. I found out that having eggs and canadian bacon for breakfast with a cup of green tea really, really help.

[Lorena]

dola,

I got measured on Tuesday and I lost 2.5 inches... ya me! But compared to the monstrous number I pulled during the 3 week Fitness Study (8.75 inches), 2 inches doesn't seem much, but a loss is a loss is a loss.

I lost the following last month:

Waist -0.25 inches
Hips (butt) -0.25 inches
Thighs -2 inches (combined)

Curves records show me as losing 13 inches and 2 lbs. That's a lot of inches for not a lot of weight, but I'm still determined.

I have incorporated jogging into my workouts so we'll see how that goes.

Good work everyone!!

[Ksyrup]

I've been sick for the past several days, only worked out once for the past week, and hadn't really concentrated on the diet, so I was pleasantly surprised when I weighed in this morning. I lost 5.5 pounds and am officially under my original target weight. Yay! I've got about 10 more pounds to go and then I'll start to increase the amount I eat during the day. I'm also going away on business this coming weekend, so that should prove to be a nice challenge.

Start: 225.0 lbs (9/10/06)
Previous: 180.0 lbs (11/26/06)
Current: 174.5 lbs (12/02/06)
Goal: 165 lbs (1/15/07)
Total Loss: 50.5 lbs

[Ksyrup]

Seems we've all kinda slowed down for the holidays, huh? Since I'm so near my goal weight, I've started being less strict with my diet, so my weight loss for the past 2 weeks was down some. I did have a huge Mexican dinner on Saturday night which I was not happy with myself about 5 minutes after I finished. I ate way too much and knew it immediately...which is a good thing.

I'm going to be pushing hard the next 2 weeks to lose that final 5 pounds. I'd like to go into the new year with no weight to lose, just a new diet and exercise regimen to maintain.

Start: 225.0 lbs (9/10/06)
Previous: 174.5 lbs (12/02/06)
Current: 170.0 lbs (12/16/06)
Goal: 165 lbs (1/15/07)
Total Loss: 55.0 lbs

[Lorena]

Haven't posted since 11/12/06, oops. I haven't been true to my diet (no sugar, but have had white flour). I'm still going to the gym 3 times a week, and went jogging yesterday... boy was that killer! My legs aren't as sore as the first time I did it, but it felt good. I will probably do that a few times this week on top of the gym:

Stats
Starting weight (09/09/06): 194.4
Previous Weight (11/12/06): 186.2
Current Weight (12/18/06): 187.8
Total loss: - 6.6 lbs
Loss needed to reach desired goal: 62.8 lbs.

Yup, I gained a little over a pound in a month; I'm pretty sure it's muscle because I'm starting to see definition on my legs, so I don't feel completely bad about it.

Ksyrup, you're freaking awesome man! So are there any before/after pics?

[Ksyrup]

I've been meaning to put some pics up. I don't have a great one of me recently, just the family pics we took a few weeks back for our Christmas cards. I'll find something to post.

[Ksyrup]

BTW, I have also transitioned from full cardio workout to 30 minutes of cardio and 15-20 minutes of weights. I seriously need to do something about my upper body - it's pathetic. I'm going to the gym tonight, Wednesday, and hopefully Friday night or Saturday morning.

[Lorena]

I found out that they're having a "Snowball Fight" at Curves. This is a sort of competition that started yesterday and will end January 31st. The top 6 people win some sort of a prize... dunno what it is. We earn snowballs by working out, by wearing certain clothing, lose a certain amount of weight/inches and all kinds of other stuff. Well, since I'm extremely competetive, I have to win this thing (by winning, I mean 1st place, 2nd-6th is not an option). I'm WAAAAAAY behind, the top person is 10 snowballs ahead of me, so I'm gonna have to really bust my ass and lose about 5 lbs by next week to catch up... yikes! I'm gonna have to start South Beach Induction to lose that weight and really stick to it. I found out that jogging once around our apt. complex is about half a mile, so I'm gonna have to crank it up.

That chick will not beat me!!!

[Ksyrup]

I finally got my wife to take some pictures of me last night, so some time this weekend I'll try to post some "before and after" pics. After a couple of workouts this week and picking my way through the company holiday luncheon, I weighed in this morning at just under 168! Woo-hoo!

Tonight we're going to some friends for dinner and they're having...pizza. Ugh. I told my wife if they aren't having salad, we're bringing it! One slice and some salad, that's all I'm going to have - and I'm not exactly thrilled about that, even. I'm on a mission, dammit!

[Ksyrup]

I realized tonight how few pictures we have of ourselves...99% are of the kids. Anyway, these are the best I could do. The first is from May, before we moved from Tallahassee. I was probably another 5 pounds or so heavier before I started my diet. The second pic is from last night. I had to resize them to fit in the post, which made them fuzzy.

Before:





After:

[Lorena]

Wow Ksyrup, you look pretty hot, great job!!

[Lorena]

I got measured today at Curves and I was shocked as hell to find out that I lost 7 inches in 1 month!! Wow, I was really, really surprised because my parents were here from out of town and well, my bad eating habits came in. I ate a whole bag of Flaming Hot Cheetos and completely forgot I was gonna get measured today.

Soo.. I've lost a total of 16.5 inches since 10/06/06 and a whopping 4.25 lbs.! LOL

Bust: -1.25
Waist: -3.0
Thighs: -3.0
Arms: -2.0
Abdomen: -2.25
Hips (ass): -5.0

I'm not exactly sure where I stand with the competition thing, but with my 20 snowballs today I'm not doing so bad

[Radii]

Originally Posted by Dodgerchick

You CAN do it Radii!! I have faith in you and the program you will be following. Eggs are a must have in our household and I can't imagine a breakfast without them. I found out that having eggs and canadian bacon for breakfast with a cup of green tea really, really help.

Holiday stress, moving stress, family stress has just been killing me. I haven't been gaining but I'm not sure if I've been losing any weight either. After Monday I am in my new apartment, a 10 minute drive to the office instead of an hour, and I have been getting a lot of exercise this last week finishing up packing and moving. My new aparmtnent is lower level so I go up a flight of stairs anytime I head out to the car. Every muscle in my body aches after taking a number of loads of stuff into the apartment the last couple days.

A number of times in the last couple of months(since I started reading here and making the occasional post indicating my interest in losing weight) I've been good for a couple days but no more than that. Here's hoping the time freed up from the commute, the forced flight of stairs a number of times a day, the reduction in stress after just a couple more days when the move is finally, fully, complete, and the excersize from the last week kickstart me in the right direction for good!

[Radii]

Also, BIG congrats to KSyrup and Dodgerchick for keeping the activity going here and for having such success!

[Lorena]

Originally Posted by Radii

Holiday stress, moving stress, family stress has just been killing me. I haven't been gaining but I'm not sure if I've been losing any weight either. After Monday I am in my new apartment, a 10 minute drive to the office instead of an hour, and I have been getting a lot of exercise this last week finishing up packing and moving. My new aparmtnent is lower level so I go up a flight of stairs anytime I head out to the car. Every muscle in my body aches after taking a number of loads of stuff into the apartment the last couple days.

A number of times in the last couple of months(since I started reading here and making the occasional post indicating my interest in losing weight) I've been good for a couple days but no more than that. Here's hoping the time freed up from the commute, the forced flight of stairs a number of times a day, the reduction in stress after just a couple more days when the move is finally, fully, complete, and the excersize from the last week kickstart me in the right direction for good!

The fact that you haven't gained is an accomplishment IMO. I hope everything goes well and your'e right, stress can wreak havoc on diets. Just remember, eggs are your friend

Originally Posted by Radii

Also, BIG congrats to KSyrup and Dodgerchick for keeping the activity going here and for having such success!

Thanks!!

Now that Ksyrup lost his weight, I hope he continues to post here so we can get tips on how to maintain the weight.

[Ksyrup]

I hope I have some tips to pass along! I've said to friends and family that the more impressive accomplishment will be what I weigh in December 2007, rather than what I weigh right now. The biggest thing for me will be keeping up the workouts. I went this past Wednesday night and yesterday morning, and plan to get back to the 3-a-weeks after January 1. That will help in a big way.

And thanks for the compliments. I wouldn't say I look "hot" by a long stretch, but funny enough, since my weight loss coincided with Mario Lopez's run on Dancing With the Stars, I've been getting a lot of "You look JUST like that Mario Lopez guy!" comments. Which is pretty ridiculous, IMO (for one thing, I'm Greek not Latino!), but who am I to argue?

[Lorena]

Hmmm.... your dimples do give you a sort of Mario Lopez kinda look.

Well, talk about screwing up a diet. I hadn't had "real" beer in a long, long time and I downed a 6 pack of Coronas and 2 big 'ol bags of chips in the last 2 days so I did very, very bad. My goal is to lose the weight I gained and lose 15 lbs by Janurary 27th (which is when I get measured again). If I lose 10 lbs. I'll be alright, but I gotta lose at least 5 inches by the time this month is over so I can get more snowballs.

I'm starting today with a half hour jog around our apt complex and on to the gym tomorrow.

[Ksyrup]

I was bad yesterday, too, but I'm not worried about it. I plan on hitting the gym tonight, Thursday, and Saturday, and I'm getting back to my diet again. As long as I keep up with the workouts and eat like I have been for the past few months, I'll be alright for when I indulge every now and then. At least that's the theory I'm operating under to start the new year!

[Ksyrup]

So I had a physical yesterday, my first since August of 2003 (which, ironically, I posted about here, after I lost a bunch of weight last time using Atkins - and promptly gained it all back). Everything was normal, and I'm going back tomorrow to draw blood for a cholesterol/thyroid/whatever else check. Will be interesting to see how I fare and compare it to my 2003 post-Atkins check.

[Ksyrup]

Alright people, let's get back into the swing of things! Let's see some reports!

I'm down to 163 as of this morning. I've pretty much made my goal, now I have to work on finding a happy medium between not losing any more and maintaining a semi-consistent weight. I'd like to stay between 160 and 165. Right now, I'm still losing without trying because I've gotten so used to eating so little food, I either don't want more than I'm already eating, or I still have that mentality of trying to limit how much I'm eating. It's a strange feeling, considering where I was 4 months ago.

I'm taking little steps, though, like taking the kids for pizza once and eating ice cream (Edy's Slow Churned - especially the new Yogurt Blends stuff - tastes great and is pretty low-cal/fat for ice cream)., so I think I'll be OK.

[Lorena]

I've had a pretty bad 2 weeks including exercise. I started jogging on the treadmill sometime last week and messed up my knee. I'm still exercising although not like I did before. I think the last time I weighed myself I was at 190, so that's about 2 lbs. less than when I joined this dynasty! DOH

Next time I want chips or muffins, I'm gonna have to make my own cuz the store kind is too darn convenient.

[Radii]

Update!

The diet isn't going. At all. I haven't made any noticible changes to my diet. I intend to. I have to. But anything I've attempted hasn't lasted more than a day. But, regardless, there is good news.

I bought a scale that goes up to real big numbers.

Initial Weight(11/25/06): 355
Current Weight(1/9/07): 348.7


So I haven't successfully changed my diet yet, but I'm down about 6 pounds, so I'm happy. The beginnings of weight loss can be attributed to one thing... MOVING. Holy shit moving sucks. But it makes you get exercise, whether you want to or not. I paid for cleaning service, dumpster service, moving service... any service I could find, but I still had to pack, and had a ton of cleaning to do on my own, and ended up worn out many days.

So now that the move is over, I've set a few things up to keep myself from drifting back to total lethargy:

1) Stairs at work. Come on, I'm on the 2nd floor. There is no need to EVER take the elevator.
2) no using the car to get the mail or take out trash at the apartment complex.
3) DDR is fun(and I'm a dork). Play DDR!
4) Do some resistance exercise every day. More on this in another update.

I'm not giving up on eating well, but I'm finding some immediate success focusing on getting more exercise, and really I've been so lazy for so long that i'm just trying to turn anything that comes naturally into a habit, and I've been consistantly getting 20 minutes of legitimate cardio every day, minimum, sometimes more like 30-45 minutes.

[Lorena]

You're right Radii, moving sucks ass. Ant and I have done is more times than I can remember.

I'm glad to hear you've lost weight without really changing your diet... congrats that's awesome! Imagine how fast your weight will drop once you start your diet?

Little things like parking the car farther at the grocery store, walking to the drug store up the street (as opposed to driving the car), and small changes like that can make a pretty big difference.

Gluck, I'm glad to see you in here again and I'm confident now that you're settled in things will go smoothly.

[NevStar]

Guess I'll get in on this, too.... happy new year!

THE STORY

I've been fat all my life. I have no excuses for this, won't blame anyone else or a "weak metabolism," it's just that food tastes good and exercise is hard. Throughout college, I was around 350 lbs. Three years ago, I was down to 250 lbs (I'm 6'3"), but have since ballooned back up to over 400 lbs.

I'm 29 years old. In the last year, I've been having lots of weight-related health problems. High blood pressure (which I've been medicated for for the last 5 years), borderline high cholesterol, chronic back pain, plantar fasciitis, and a breathing condition which manifests as asthma and has a fancy medical name that I can't remember, but basically means "your gut's so big that your diaphragm can't fully expand).

My doctor first suggested gastric bypass surgery a year ago, and in my last checkup last year has been much more aggressively pushing it. I really don't want to expose myself to the dangers of surgery unless I have to. But my health has deteriorated to the point where I see this as my last chance before surgery.

THE PLAN

Nutrition: Limit myself to 2000-2500 calories a day. At my size, my basal metabolic rate is around 3500, so I should lose 2-3 lbs a week, ignoring exercise.

I've considered using a food journal like www.fitday.com or www.sparkpeople.com to track my food intake, but usually get bored with that after a couple of weeks. For now, I'm just going to estimate by hand. For now, I'm not going to pay attention to fat-carb-protein percentages or sodium count. The most important thing is making calories in < calories out.

Fitness: I've joined a health club, Anytime Fitness. Ideally, I'd like to work out twice a day, 5 times a week, an hour per visit.

Mornings: 30 minutes cardio (usually an elliptical trainer), planning to gradually work up to one hour.

Evenings: Resistance training for 45 minutes, followed by 20-30 minutes cardio.

Right now my weight training will be full body, 3 times a week, just to refamiliarize myself with the equipment. I plan to split that up into upper body-lower body splits, and work each half twice a week (for a weight training schedule like Monday (upper) - Tues (lower) - Thurs (upper) - Fri (lower) ).

Real-life usually makes me eliminate one of those visits (plus, right now, I just don't have the stamina to last longer than 30 minutes on any cardio equipment). I'm also meeting with a personal trainer once a week. During the first visit, he worked a lot on stability & core exercises. It was different from anything I'd ever done & kicked my butt.

STARTING WEIGHT: (as of 1/1/07) 445 lbs
FINAL GOAL: 225 lbs

INTERMEDIATE GOAL: 299 lbs by 11/14/07 - This is aggressive, but I'd like to be in the two hundreds by my 30th birthday.

I'll post first week progress in another post.

[DolphinFan1]

Originally Posted by Dodgerchick

Next time I want chips or muffins, I'm gonna have to make my own cuz the store kind is too darn convenient.

Dodgerchick, you don't know how right you are. Not only are they convenient, they have all kinds of stuff in them to get you to eat more and gain weight. I started baking ALL my own cookies, brownies, muffins, and breads. Using organic ingredients I still eat a lot of sweets but haven't gained a pound since I dropped 25 lbs. last year. My wife has also felt better and lost some weight and we don't feel guilty about eating them.

[Ksyrup]

Wow. Good luck. Please continue to post here with updates on your progress.

I know this sounds corny, but did you watch The Biggest Loser? I'm not much into being "inspired" and such, but...well, it was inspiring. The guy who won it all this year started at 407 and ended up a chiseled 185. It was truly amazing to watch it happen. Now I know the guy had several months of no work, no family distractions, etc., and nothing but time to dedicate to losing weight - and of course a goal of being fit AND $250K richer doesn't hurt either - but after seeing what he did, I believe anyone can lose weight if they really want to. Even as much as you are looking to lose.

My sincere hope for you is that you make my weight loss look like a weekend fast by comparison.

[Ksyrup]

Originally Posted by DolphinFan1

Dodgerchick, you don't know how right you are. Not only are they convenient, they have all kinds of stuff in them to get you to eat more and gain weight. I started baking ALL my own cookies, brownies, muffins, and breads. Using organic ingredients I still eat a lot of sweets but haven't gained a pound since I dropped 25 lbs. last year. My wife has also felt better and lost some weight and we don't feel guilty about eating them.

I'm not quite to this point yet, but might get there. Right now I'm just avoiding cookies, although with chips, I've been eating Sun Chips occasionally. The biggest thing, by far, is to take what you want to eat from the package and put the package away before you start eating. I've found it much easier to control my urges when I would have to physically go back to the pantry, open the bag, and take more. I'm able to shame myself into not going through with it before that happens. I basically look at the calories on the bag, decide how many I can have, only take that many, and that's the end of it.

[NevStar]

PROGRESS (1/1 - 1/8)

I spent New Years' Day searching for a health club. I'm kicking myself for waiting for the new year to start this & applaud you guys in this thread for starting last year, without waiting for a calendar change to catalyze you. Suprisingly, most of the clubs I look at are closed... you'd think it'd be a good day to pick up new memberships. I narrow my search down to 2 clubs: Anytime Fitness & O-2. O-2 is huge, has sparkling new equipment, and fru-fru cardio "theme" rooms. The "pump room" has lots of bright lights, while the "getaway room" is pitch dark and supposedly more relaxing (not sure how relaxed you're supposed to be working out, but *shrug*). Anytime, on the other hand, is much smaller and no-frills. However, they're open 24 hours, and are a national chain. There's one branch close to my house & one close to work. That clinched it for me (well that, plus, the cute manager who smiled & batted her eyes at me... I'm a sucker). After doing a complementary, trial workout at both places, on Wednesday I sign up at Anytime Fitness.

I worked out everyday except Saturday. I started only being able to go 10 minutes on the elliptical and worked my way up to 20.

Eating was not as good. I do well until about 10 pm, when I find myself starving & binging on a late-night snack, usually chips & guacamole. I'm going to try to correct that by eating more during breakfast & lunch, since I probably wasn't eating enough before.

Starting Weight: 445
Current Weight (1/8): 438 (-7)
Total Weight Lost: 7

[Lorena]

I've yet to miss a season of the Biggest Loser and honestly, I get my inspiration from them. Never in my wildest dreams did I even consider jogging at my weight but after watching the show, I felt I could and it has helped. I haven't lost a lot of weight, but have lost a lot of inches and that's progress.

Nev I'm rooting for you and it can be done, gluck with it. I'm not sure how much of the dynasty you've read, but I have a lot of information regarding SouthBeach if ya want it.

Originally Posted by Ksyrup

've found it much easier to control my urges when I would have to physically go back to the pantry, open the bag, and take more. I'm able to shame myself into not going through with it before that happens. I basically look at the calories on the bag, decide how many I can have, only take that many, and that's the end of it.

Out of sight, out of mind... good idea. I'll have to do that so I don't get tempted with the snacks that I buy for Ant and the kids.