The Officialish FOFC Weight Loss Dynasty

[finketr]

I apparently have "Lose it" And runtastic and my fitness pal, and c25k, and something called ismooth run...

[MacroGuru]

Positive note, I have found my love for some fruit again. I am actually craving it now.

Groupon has a $99/yr Gym Membership with Fitness 19 I will be purchasing tomorrow. The Fitness 19 is 10 minutes from my house and I will be doing Cardio there (I mean, it's -25 outside right now, I am not running out in this crap) and when I finish surgery and I am cleared to start lifting, I will start.

Until then, I begin some other stuff at home tonight.

[BYU 14]

checked in at 22.7% body fat this morning, so I hit my first goal of getting into the slim/healthy range for my age of 20-23%.

[MacroGuru]

Originally Posted by BYU 14

checked in at 22.7% body fat this morning, so I hit my first goal of getting into the slim/healthy range for my age of 20-23%.

Congrats!

Well, pretty excited so far, the week isn't even over yet and I am down 6.5 pounds. The eating healthy has actually done well for me. My body is feeling better, I am feeling better and I am excited about this new transformation.

Groupon had a Gym Membership special, $99 for a year membership @ Fitness 19 which is 10 mins from my house. I jumped on it and ended up getting it for $89 because Groupon gave me $10 off for some reason.

So, I now have a place to do Cardio and when I am done with the surgery, Lift.

[BYU 14]

Originally Posted by MacroGuru

Congrats!

Well, pretty excited so far, the week isn't even over yet and I am down 6.5 pounds. The eating healthy has actually done well for me. My body is feeling better, I am feeling better and I am excited about this new transformation.

Groupon had a Gym Membership special, $99 for a year membership @ Fitness 19 which is 10 mins from my house. I jumped on it and ended up getting it for $89 because Groupon gave me $10 off for some reason.

So, I now have a place to do Cardio and when I am done with the surgery, Lift.

Great job, that's a huge drop for 1 week and a helluva deal on the gym too.

[BYU 14]

Goals:
Weight: 190 (I am 6' tall and have an above average frame)
Body fat: 21-22 % (For a 50 year old man, fit/fair is 23-26%, slim/healthy is 20-23%)
I set the Lose it site goal for weight loss of 1.5 pounds a week, which puts me at my target weight on March 9th (my Birthday)

Monday December 16th
Weight: 208.0
Body Fat: 25.2%
Muscle Mass: 33.6%
(Scale also does bone density and water weight %, not concerned with those as much)

Monday December 23rd
Weight: 201.2 (- 6.8)
Body Fat: 24%
Muscle Mass: 34%
Adjusted goal date: February 14th

Monday December 30th
Weight: 205.2 (- 2.8)
Body Fat: 24.7%
Muscle Mass: 33.6%
Adjusted goal date: March 11th

Monday January 6th
Weight: 203.2 (- 4.8)
Body Fat: 24.3%
Muscle Mass: 33.8%
Adjusted goal date: March 8th

Monday January 13th
Weight: 202.0 (- 6)
Body Fat: 24.1%
Muscle Mass: 33.9%
Adjusted goal date: March 10th

Monday January 20th
Weight: 198.8 (- 9.2)
Body Fat: 23.5%
Muscle Mass: 34.2%
Adjusted goal date: March 3rd

Monday January 27th
Weight: 198.4 (- 9.6)
Body Fat: 23.4%
Muscle Mass: 34.3%
Adjusted goal date: March 8th

Friday January 31st
Weight: 195.2 (- 12.8)
Body Fat: 22.7%
Muscle Mass: 34.7%
Adjusted goal date: February 25th

Moving the weigh-in days to Friday as this is usually my max loss day, so it makes me feel better as I usually add a pound over the weekend Plus this is Superbowl weekend, so I am going to a party Sunday and will indulge a bit.

Just over 5 pounds away from my final goal and ahead of schedule as I complete the second month, so averaging a drop of 6 pounds a month, which I am happy with and have dropped 2.5% body fat (in my goal range now) and gained 1.1% in muscle mass.

[Alan T]

Great job guys! Keep up the good work!

[MacroGuru]

Originally Posted by BYU 14

Moving the weigh-in days to Friday as this is usually my max loss day, so it makes me feel better as I usually add a pound over the weekend Plus this is Superbowl weekend, so I am going to a party Sunday and will indulge a bit.

Just over 5 pounds away from my final goal and ahead of schedule as I complete the second month, so averaging a drop of 6 pounds a month, which I am happy with and have dropped 2.5% body fat (in my goal range now) and gained 1.1% in muscle mass.

One thing I love about the Paleo is I can eat a ton of meat and a ton of veggies. I am not going to overdue it on Sunday though, I am making Paleo Wings and a I will be probably making a pulled pork and having it with Sweet Potatoes...as for Alcohol, I might not drink since I have my kids this weekend, but if I do, I am safe with a glass or two of red wine.

[BYU 14]

Originally Posted by MacroGuru

One thing I love about the Paleo is I can eat a ton of meat and a ton of veggies. I am not going to overdue it on Sunday though, I am making Paleo Wings and a I will be probably making a pulled pork and having it with Sweet Potatoes...as for Alcohol, I might not drink since I have my kids this weekend, but if I do, I am safe with a glass or two of red wine.

Paleo wings = no butter?

I am pretty much 85-90% paleo on most days, I do have 12 flavored wheat thins as one of my snacks and I like by fat free feta in my egg whites every morning, but all through the week most everything else is fish, chicken and fruit/veggies.

[MacroGuru]

Originally Posted by BYU 14

Paleo wings = no butter?

I am pretty much 85-90% paleo on most days, I do have 12 flavored wheat thins as one of my snacks and I like by fat free feta in my egg whites every morning, but all through the week most everything else is fish, chicken and fruit/veggies.

Yeah, No butter, No breads and baked.

I found a Honey / Garlic recipe (Honey is Paleo to some sides and not Paleo to the others, my view on Paleo is, if it was hunted and gathered by others it can be done. And the minute Man found bees and honey, they used it. It's been proven)

[MacroGuru]

One thing that has been helping me stick to my diet is my planning out of my daily meals. I get up an extra 30 minutes to do it, but I plan my meals out for the day and I prep.

Lunch is with me at work, and I can eat it and not worry, I have an apple or 2 a day for a snack and then when I get home for dinner, everything is ready to cook and my time is lessened on the cooking side.

I think this will help me when I start hitting the gym after work. So I can come right home and get the proteins and everything into me right after a workout.

[MacroGuru]

So stopped by the new gym yesterday to get set up with everything and look at the facility, it's not bad at all. It has enough cardio, machines and free weights and isn't super busy.

Some things I found out in regards to my membership, I can go to any location and when my year is up, I am locked into the $99 rate so I can renew at the same price next year. Pretty happy there.

The diet hasn't been bad, it's going to be rough today as I am stepping from it due to superbowl, but I should still be below my caloric intake for the day.

I have lost a total of 8 lbs so far and I hit the gym today for my first time and I focused on the cardio because 1)I need it and 2) I am not cleared to lift until after my surgery.

I did the C25K app today for day one and I hit the stair master as well. My legs hate me but I feel great.

[Ben E Lou]

Between multiple illnesses, the holidays, not tracking as fastidiously, and a bizarre foot injury (accidentally kicked over an empty laundry basket in the dark, tripped, stepped on it in the wrong place and the plastic edge sliced the bottom of my foot pretty dadgum well,) I let myself get off track. That said, I'm 75 pounds lighter than I was last January. Still, I'd like to knock maybe 20-30 off. I did continue to lift during all of this time and ate a ton of protein, so with the muscle gain I may end up ok being a little heavier than the 170-175 range where I sat for most of the fall. We'll see. I'd like to get body fat into the 12-15% range and the waistline into the 30-34 range. Currently I'm at around 21%/37.5.

[MacroGuru]

Alright, 10.5 lbs down, also down and inch on the waist.

But the big thing to hit me was after going to the surgeon on Monday and finding out I have a 2nd hernia. And he eliminated all exercise and strenuous activity for me until my surgery and after he clears me.

That isn't until 3/7. He is afraid I will overdo it and cause strangulation on the hernia's.

[Alf]

Size : 1.83m (6 feet)
Age : 43 (technically I am 42 but will hit 43 in 2 months)

Weight Goals
Short-term : get as quickly as possible below 90kg (Feb 28 would be ideal)
Mid-term : get in the 85-86kg area before next winter
Longer term : stabilize at 85-86 and identify the level of effort to go down to 79kg

Tuesday Jan 14 2014
Weight : 92kg (202 lbs) (all time high)
IMC : 27.47 (overweight is 25-31, fit is 19-25)
IMG : 26.66 (normal is 15-20%)

Monday Jan 27 2014
Weight : 91.3kg (201.3 lbs)
IMC : 27.3 (overweight is 25-31, fit is 19-25)
IMG : 26.40 (normal is 15-20%)

FMonday Feb 3rd 2014
Weight : 91.3kg (201.3 lbs)
IMC : 27.3 (overweight is 25-31, fit is 19-25)
IMG : 26.40 (normal is 15-20%)

Not done much again. I even expected to gain some as we went out twice to restaurant with wine and beer and more...

Edit : I am putting my daily weighting into an Android app on my smartphone (with just that and a graph), to help me keep this in mind daily

[MacroGuru]

One thing I think I am going to do this weekend is build in what I would have normally had in a day pre change. And look at that against a day like today where I had a ton of protein and lots of veggies, where I didn't even hit close to 1000 calories and just see how rough I was treating my body.

[BYU 14]

Goals:
Weight: 190 (I am 6' tall and have an above average frame)
Body fat: 21-22 % (For a 50 year old man, fit/fair is 23-26%, slim/healthy is 20-23%)
I set the Lose it site goal for weight loss of 1.5 pounds a week, which puts me at my target weight on March 9th (my Birthday)

Monday December 16th
Weight: 208.0
Body Fat: 25.2%
Muscle Mass: 33.6%
(Scale also does bone density and water weight %, not concerned with those as much)

Monday December 23rd
Weight: 201.2 (- 6.8)
Body Fat: 24%
Muscle Mass: 34%
Adjusted goal date: February 14th

Monday December 30th
Weight: 205.2 (- 2.8)
Body Fat: 24.7%
Muscle Mass: 33.6%
Adjusted goal date: March 11th

Monday January 6th
Weight: 203.2 (- 4.8)
Body Fat: 24.3%
Muscle Mass: 33.8%
Adjusted goal date: March 8th

Monday January 13th
Weight: 202.0 (- 6)
Body Fat: 24.1%
Muscle Mass: 33.9%
Adjusted goal date: March 10th

Monday January 20th
Weight: 198.8 (- 9.2)
Body Fat: 23.5%
Muscle Mass: 34.2%
Adjusted goal date: March 3rd

Monday January 27th
Weight: 198.4 (- 9.6)
Body Fat: 23.4%
Muscle Mass: 34.3%
Adjusted goal date: March 8th

Friday January 31st
Weight: 195.2 (- 12.8)
Body Fat: 22.7%
Muscle Mass: 34.7%
Adjusted goal date: February 25th

Friday February 7th
Weight: 192.4 (- 15.6)
Body Fat: 22.3%
Muscle Mass: 34.9%
Adjusted goal date: February 19th

Great week considering the morning of the Super Bowl I was 194 and jumped to over 197 after gorging. After cleansing the crap out of my system the weight really dropped off the last two days. With a good week I could possibly reach my by goal by next Friday!

[Brian Swartz]

Throwing my hat back into the ring ...

I've dropped 15 lbs. since the 1st of the year without trying. It's called the 'work like a dog' plan, as I'm in a transition period between jobs and so I'm full-time at the new one while still nearly full-time at the old one. Haven't made any other changes, just burning off what I eat. I was at about 340, my personal 'high', at the new year and 323.8 now, one pants size down which is what made it obvious as I kept having to add new holes to my belt.

My goal is to build some more healthy habits by the time I return to a more 'normal' schedule, which right now is planned for April.

[Ben E Lou]

Originally Posted by Ben E Lou

Between multiple illnesses, the holidays, not tracking as fastidiously, and a bizarre foot injury (accidentally kicked over an empty laundry basket in the dark, tripped, stepped on it in the wrong place and the plastic edge sliced the bottom of my foot pretty dadgum well,) I let myself get off track. That said, I'm 75 pounds lighter than I was last January. Still, I'd like to knock maybe 20-30 off. I did continue to lift during all of this time and ate a ton of protein, so with the muscle gain I may end up ok being a little heavier than the 170-175 range where I sat for most of the fall. We'll see. I'd like to get body fat into the 12-15% range and the waistline into the 30-34 range. Currently I'm at around 21%/37.5.

Down 6.2 pounds since last Monday. Last week's weight was probably a bit over-inflated from undigested wings from the Super Bowl, but still an encouraging week.

[Radii]

One month into making the switch to low carb. I lost 12 pounds in my first month. I accidentally knocked myself out of ketosis twice and slowed things up a couple weeks ago, but overall things are obviously going well. My biggest issue right now is actually eating more than I need to out of habit. With low carb/high fat meals I feel full rather easily, but I'm just used to needing to eat massive amounts of food to not feel like shit.

1/10: 323
2/10: 310.8

The lowest I saw on my scale last year when I was making progress was 294, so getting back to that point is the first measurable goal that I am aiming for.

[MacroGuru]

Alright, a couple of things...

I feel like I am eating a lot with the Paleo diet. I am not going hungry and when I do feel hungry I snack. I have dropped 13 pounds since January 25.

Most of the time though I am below my BMR (Which I have read about, kind of freaky) and it's pretty drastic difference, I don't know what I can do to up my caloric intake other than eating more...but I am not hungry so I feel I would be gorging myself.

I am not exercising right now due to the 2 hernia's although I am trying to squeeze in walking on a treadmill when I am not in pain (which, I have been hurting for the past few days)

I will see what I can do to up my caloric intake to keep it closer to my BMR #.

Now to the loseit app. Is the paid program worth it?

[Alan T]

i pay for lose it but mainly so I can cross sync all of my stuff to make my life easier. It imports my daily weighins from my scale automatically, and imports my exercise from runkeeper automatically

[FrogMan]

Macroguru, some tips I've read on the LI forums about how to increase your calories without really gorgeing, no clue if they fit the paleo diet or not though:
do not use low fat stuff (like for dressing or greek yogurt)
eat avocado
almonds and good dark chocolate make for a pretty nice snack and will jack your calorie count quick

these taken from this post on the LI forums:
Account - Lose It!

Complete list:
Nuts and dark chocolate
Half-and-half (or heavy cream) in your coffee instead of non-fat non-dairy creamer
Whole eggs instead of egg whites
Chicken thighs instead of chicken breasts
Full fat salad dressings instead of the sugar-filled low fat/no fat dressings.
Fry your eggs in butter (or bacon fat).
Avocados on your sandwiches, in your salads, or topping your eggs.

Again, no clue what's acceptable to paleo or not as I have no clue what paleo entails... There are plenty of good people on the LI forums.

As for premium Lose It, I never needed it. Probably should buy it simply to give back for a program that has been and still is such a big help to my losing and mainting my weight loss for the last 18 months. I could also probably use the ability to log the night before since I'm putting my lunch together the evening before cause I'm getting up quite early to run and will do so until next August...


I instead spent money on Smashrun and I'm getting much more from that right now so it was a choice I made.

FM

[MacroGuru]

Originally Posted by FrogMan

Macroguru, some tips I've read on the LI forums about how to increase your calories without really gorgeing, no clue if they fit the paleo diet or not though:
do not use low fat stuff (like for dressing or greek yogurt)
eat avocado
almonds and good dark chocolate make for a pretty nice snack and will jack your calorie count quick

these taken from this post on the LI forums:
Account - Lose It!

Complete list:
Nuts and dark chocolate
Half-and-half (or heavy cream) in your coffee instead of non-fat non-dairy creamer
Whole eggs instead of egg whites
Chicken thighs instead of chicken breasts
Full fat salad dressings instead of the sugar-filled low fat/no fat dressings.
Fry your eggs in butter (or bacon fat).
Avocados on your sandwiches, in your salads, or topping your eggs.

Again, no clue what's acceptable to paleo or not as I have no clue what paleo entails... There are plenty of good people on the LI forums.

As for premium Lose It, I never needed it. Probably should buy it simply to give back for a program that has been and still is such a big help to my losing and mainting my weight loss for the last 18 months. I could also probably use the ability to log the night before since I'm putting my lunch together the evening before cause I'm getting up quite early to run and will do so until next August...


I instead spent money on Smashrun and I'm getting much more from that right now so it was a choice I made.

FM

I already do whole eggs on my meals, I do oil and vinagrette dressings because dairy isn't on Paleo. I can do avocado's and certain nuts / seeds. I might get away with pure organic type chocolates. Never thought about thighs, that is good to know.

[Brian Swartz]

Wednesday's seem to be as consistent as any day lately to be open enough for my weigh-in day each week. I'm at 321.9(3-day average as always), though as with my sleep it's fluctuating all over the place. 18 pounds in six weeks, which is really a little too fast but I'm not complaining. I've found it easier to control portions lately which has the most important success, and am finally healthy for basically the first time this year(been sick three times since Christmas, very unusual for me).

[Radii]

Originally Posted by MacroGuru

Most of the time though I am below my BMR (Which I have read about, kind of freaky) and it's pretty drastic difference, I don't know what I can do to up my caloric intake other than eating more...but I am not hungry so I feel I would be gorging myself.

I had so many issues with this number last year that I'm just simply ignoring it now. It got overwhelming. Myfitnesspal and Loseit would give me drastically different calculations as to the minimum and recommended number of calories I should eat (at 309 pounds right now LoseIt tells me to eat 2523 calories to lose 2 pounds a week, MFP says 2200). Different BMR calculations would show up drastically different. I just google'd "BMR Calculator" and went to three different sites and got BMR results of 2409, 2704, and 2917 calories per day, on all three selecting the least active option they offer when asked about activity (myfitnesspal, bmi-calculator site, and webMD are the three sites, btw).

So my attitude right now is fuck all this. I'm not starving myself, I'm not desperately trying to eat as little as possible. I'm eating any time I am hungry, I am eating a good amount of food and I feel full/satisfied most of the time with the diet I'm currently eating. I'm not religiously logging my food every day, but I do try to a couple days a week just to make sure I'm keeping myself basically in check. I'm eating 1800-2100 calories a day. I'm exercising very little right now, I'm sure I'll eat more once I am, but I have energy every day, I'm not having fatigue issues, I'm not having an issue focusing/concentrating, but LoseIt would have me believe that I need to eat as much as 40% more a day. /shrug.

[BYU 14]

Goals:
Weight: 190 (I am 6' tall and have an above average frame)
Body fat: 21-22 % (For a 50 year old man, fit/fair is 23-26%, slim/healthy is 20-23%)
I set the Lose it site goal for weight loss of 1.5 pounds a week, which puts me at my target weight on March 9th (my Birthday)

Monday December 16th
Weight: 208.0
Body Fat: 25.2%
Muscle Mass: 33.6%
(Scale also does bone density and water weight %, not concerned with those as much)

Monday December 23rd
Weight: 201.2 (- 6.8)
Body Fat: 24%
Muscle Mass: 34%
Adjusted goal date: February 14th

Monday December 30th
Weight: 205.2 (- 2.8)
Body Fat: 24.7%
Muscle Mass: 33.6%
Adjusted goal date: March 11th

Monday January 6th
Weight: 203.2 (- 4.8)
Body Fat: 24.3%
Muscle Mass: 33.8%
Adjusted goal date: March 8th

Monday January 13th
Weight: 202.0 (- 6)
Body Fat: 24.1%
Muscle Mass: 33.9%
Adjusted goal date: March 10th

Monday January 20th
Weight: 198.8 (- 9.2)
Body Fat: 23.5%
Muscle Mass: 34.2%
Adjusted goal date: March 3rd

Monday January 27th
Weight: 198.4 (- 9.6)
Body Fat: 23.4%
Muscle Mass: 34.3%
Adjusted goal date: March 8th

Friday January 31st
Weight: 195.2 (- 12.8)
Body Fat: 22.7%
Muscle Mass: 34.7%
Adjusted goal date: February 25th

Friday February 7th
Weight: 192.4 (- 15.6)
Body Fat: 22.3%
Muscle Mass: 34.9%
Adjusted goal date: February 19th

Friday February 14th
Weight: 191.6 (- 16.4)
Body Fat: 22.1%
Muscle Mass: 35.0%
Adjusted goal date: February 22nd

Goal is within sight, hopefully next week, then I go on maintenance and up my protein as I am going to focus more heavily on lifting again at that point and will load most of my protein post workout. Reached my muscle mass goal of 35% + so now just those last 1.6 pounds

Hopefully will end up in the high 21% range for body fat, which is solidly in the slim/healthy range for my age.

[MacroGuru]

Alright, I am sticking true to the diet for the entire week except for a glass or two of wine on Sat nights...this weekends is needed.

I am looking at next week. I am not 100% sure how I am going to stick to the diet traveling and relying on others to feed me for this trip back to Utah, add in the fact of why I am going out there....It might be a trap...but, my strong will should hold out.

As I thin out, the kids are amazed and saying dad, you look younger..and wow, there is a skinny guy there...LOL....

[MacroGuru]

Down almost 15 pounds, the chubby cheeks are gone and the cravings for soda have been gone for about 2 weeks now. I do crave sugars, pasta and breads still but not as bad.

I am going to make a goal of having a game meat when I get back from Utah, seeing if i can get Venison, Bison or something from a butcher.

Vegetables are going fine. Loving the sweet potatoes, brocolli, salads and of course my old standby's of Zucchini, Onions, peppers and mushrooms...my diet is great.

I am in Utah/Vegas for a week starting Weds and then I will be home for almost 2 weeks before my surgery. Goal is to keep eating normally the entire time, even during recovery and hoping minimal weight gain happens as I am being told 6 weeks recovery time before I can do anything I want to do.

[Alf]

Size : 1.83m (6 feet)
Age : 43 (technically I am 42 but will hit 43 in 2 months)

Weight Goals
Short-term : get as quickly as possible below 90kg (Feb 28 would be ideal)
Mid-term : get in the 85-86kg area before next winter
Longer term : stabilize at 85-86 and identify the level of effort to go down to 79kg

Tuesday Jan 14 2014
Weight : 92kg (202 lbs) (all time high)
IMC : 27.47 (overweight is 25-31, fit is 19-25)
IMG : 26.66 (normal is 15-20%)

Monday Jan 27 2014
Weight : 91.3kg (201.3 lbs)
IMC : 27.3 (overweight is 25-31, fit is 19-25)
IMG : 26.40 (normal is 15-20%)

Monday Feb 3rd 2014
Weight : 91.3kg (201.3 lbs)
IMC : 27.3 (overweight is 25-31, fit is 19-25)
IMG : 26.40 (normal is 15-20%)

Monday Feb 17 2014
Weight : 92kg (202 lbs) (all time high again)
IMC : 27.47 (overweight is 25-31, fit is 19-25)
IMG : 26.66 (normal is 15-20%)


Again, done nothing... At least, keeping track of my weight. Sigh.

[Brian Swartz]

Another good week, feeling very sore but good, energy/recovery are improving which is always a good sign.

Weigh-in: 317.1 lbs.(-4.8 this week, -22.5 since 1.1.14)

Right now I'm just trying eat as much veggies/lean meats as I can, and drinking more water and less soda. I'd like to start doing some basic stretching on days where there's time but overall I'm pleased with how things are going, still shrinking quickly.

[BYU 14]

Goals:
Weight: 190 (I am 6' tall and have an above average frame)
Body fat: 21-22 % (For a 50 year old man, fit/fair is 23-26%, slim/healthy is 20-23%)
I set the Lose it site goal for weight loss of 1.5 pounds a week, which puts me at my target weight on March 9th (my Birthday)

Monday December 16th
Weight: 208.0
Body Fat: 25.2%
Muscle Mass: 33.6%
(Scale also does bone density and water weight %, not concerned with those as much)

Monday December 23rd
Weight: 201.2 (- 6.8)
Body Fat: 24%
Muscle Mass: 34%
Adjusted goal date: February 14th

Monday December 30th
Weight: 205.2 (- 2.8)
Body Fat: 24.7%
Muscle Mass: 33.6%
Adjusted goal date: March 11th

Monday January 6th
Weight: 203.2 (- 4.8)
Body Fat: 24.3%
Muscle Mass: 33.8%
Adjusted goal date: March 8th

Monday January 13th
Weight: 202.0 (- 6)
Body Fat: 24.1%
Muscle Mass: 33.9%
Adjusted goal date: March 10th

Monday January 20th
Weight: 198.8 (- 9.2)
Body Fat: 23.5%
Muscle Mass: 34.2%
Adjusted goal date: March 3rd

Monday January 27th
Weight: 198.4 (- 9.6)
Body Fat: 23.4%
Muscle Mass: 34.3%
Adjusted goal date: March 8th

Friday January 31st
Weight: 195.2 (- 12.8)
Body Fat: 22.7%
Muscle Mass: 34.7%
Adjusted goal date: February 25th

Friday February 7th
Weight: 192.4 (- 15.6)
Body Fat: 22.3%
Muscle Mass: 34.9%
Adjusted goal date: February 19th

Friday February 14th
Weight: 191.6 (- 16.4)
Body Fat: 22.1%
Muscle Mass: 35.0%
Adjusted goal date: February 22nd

Friday February 21st
Weight: 190.8 (- 17.2)
Body Fat: 21.9%
Muscle Mass: 35.1%
Adjusted goal date: February 25th

I actually dipped to 189.8 last Saturday, so I hit the goal, and am as good as there now, so I am considering this mission accomplished. I will not go to maintenance mode for another week though as I would not mind having a few pounds to play with between 186-190. Will have to really watch food though as my exercise was limited to just two days this week and will continue to be until next Thursday due to a medical procedure I had. But I made it

[Alf]

Well done so far !

[Brian Swartz]

Weigh-in: 315.7(-1.4 lbs., -23.9 total)

Another good week, gradually making better choices as time goes on. I'm close to being able to wear size 40 pants, probably sometime within the next 5-10 lbs., so that's my next short-term goal.

[BYU 14]

Goals:
Weight: 190 (I am 6' tall and have an above average frame)
Body fat: 21-22 % (For a 50 year old man, fit/fair is 23-26%, slim/healthy is 20-23%)
I set the Lose it site goal for weight loss of 1.5 pounds a week, which puts me at my target weight on March 9th (my Birthday)

Monday December 16th
Weight: 208.0
Body Fat: 25.2%
Muscle Mass: 33.6%
(Scale also does bone density and water weight %, not concerned with those as much)

Monday December 23rd
Weight: 201.2 (- 6.8)
Body Fat: 24%
Muscle Mass: 34%
Adjusted goal date: February 14th

Monday December 30th
Weight: 205.2 (- 2.8)
Body Fat: 24.7%
Muscle Mass: 33.6%
Adjusted goal date: March 11th

Monday January 6th
Weight: 203.2 (- 4.8)
Body Fat: 24.3%
Muscle Mass: 33.8%
Adjusted goal date: March 8th

Monday January 13th
Weight: 202.0 (- 6)
Body Fat: 24.1%
Muscle Mass: 33.9%
Adjusted goal date: March 10th

Monday January 20th
Weight: 198.8 (- 9.2)
Body Fat: 23.5%
Muscle Mass: 34.2%
Adjusted goal date: March 3rd

Monday January 27th
Weight: 198.4 (- 9.6)
Body Fat: 23.4%
Muscle Mass: 34.3%
Adjusted goal date: March 8th

Friday January 31st
Weight: 195.2 (- 12.8)
Body Fat: 22.7%
Muscle Mass: 34.7%
Adjusted goal date: February 25th

Friday February 7th
Weight: 192.4 (- 15.6)
Body Fat: 22.3%
Muscle Mass: 34.9%
Adjusted goal date: February 19th

Friday February 14th
Weight: 191.6 (- 16.4)
Body Fat: 22.1%
Muscle Mass: 35.0%
Adjusted goal date: February 22nd

Friday February 21st
Weight: 190.8 (- 17.2)
Body Fat: 21.9%
Muscle Mass: 35.1%
Adjusted goal date: February 25th

Friday February 28th
Weight: 189.2 (- 18.8)
Body Fat: 21.7%
Muscle Mass: 35.3%
Adjusted goal date: Met

Officially dropped below my goal for the first time at weigh in and two days straight under 190 now, so moving to maintenance mode.

Sitting about where I want for body fat and muscle mass, though I suspect that will change as my workout focus does now, while my weight should be fairly consistent in the 188-191 range. You don't think of the difference between 208 and 189 as that much, but nearly 19 pounds of fat do make a huge difference. I can actually see 4/6ths of a six pack now, with some small love handles and a little bit of lower body fat still needing to go to get the full six pack back.

I have always been "in shape" workout wise, but the lack of portion control as mentioned before always killed me. It is really amazing how much better I feel just dropping the excess weight, despite the fact that minus some added cardio, my workout routine has remained pretty much the same.

I will now just post once a month to keep myself on track.

[Radii]

Congrats BYU!

[BYU 14]

Originally Posted by Radii

Congrats BYU!

Thank you much, now the tough part and avoid going to 5 guys to celebrate with a huge burger with all the toppings

[Brian Swartz]

Agreed, very well done sir!!

[MacroGuru]

Congrats BYU! That's awesome.

In my world, I only gained a pound after my crazy emotional trip where I ate a lot of food and drank a ton of alcohol. I thought I would have been up 5 pounds easily.

Well got back to it yesterday, keeping my intake down to where I needed it to be and eating healthy.

I dropped 4 pounds overnight, I did drunk a bunch of water yesterday because my body wanted it.

Down to 207, and I am hopping to get to 205 by Friday.

[Radii]

I'm only down two pounds since my last post but I feel great.

1/10: 323
2/10: 310.8
3/1: 308.8

On 2/15 I got down to 309.2. The next day my weight spiked 4 pounds and sat there. Water weight, something, body still adjusting to keto, it slowly went back down into the 309 range for a week, then didn't move for a week, and now finally seems to be moving again.

So according to reddit's keto faq, this is likely something excellently deemed PISS - Post Induction Stall Syndrome. Apparently when switching to keto, its common to lose a bunch of weight, then to stall for a few weeks as the body adjusts, then to pick up a normal, steady but bumpy weight loss pattern. Hopefully that's what I've just been through and the next time I post I'll show a more significant loss.

But really, who cares, I seriously feel great. My blood sugar hasn't been over 110 in a month. Most of the time when I check it its between 84 and 86. Its unbelievably consistent.

I started exercising again about 10 days ago, so far so good being consistent about it. Using my Bowflex 4 days a week, walking on off days. I want to get to where I'm taking a walk 7 days a week but for now, happy to be doing something every day.

I also am experimenting with intermittent fasting. Not so much 'experimenting' as 'read enough positive things about it that I decided to try it myself.' Lots of anecdotal stuff about it specifically helping diabetics lose fat easier. I'm doing the simplest version of this, I eat all my meals in an 8 hour window and don't eat any during the rest of the day. I have a big meal at 2pm, another between 8:30-9:30, done eating by 10, nothing til 2pm the next day. I'm not eating any fewer calories or anything.

I'm not sure this is for me or not long term, but right now it just feels great. I've been a slave to food for a very long time. I wasn't diagnosed as diabetic until about 5 years ago, but I probably have been for 8-10 years. I would very rarely eat because I'm just hungry, I would eat because I was afraid of my blood sugar tanking and feeling sick. I would sometimes overeat consciously, afraid that if I didn't eat enough, I would have a short spike in blood sugar then a crash and i'd feel awful and sick.

Being on keto I don't ever desperately feel the need to eat to control blood sugar, and its fucking amazing. Trying out intermittent fasting, I can go 16 hours without food without feeling like I literally might die. So I dunno if the fasting thing is for me long term, but for right now, it feels amazingly empowering to be able to just go about my day and not have to plan every step around how much i've eaten and when, knowing I'll feel ok, like a normal person.

Ok, that was a long post, hopefully the next post in a few more weeks is shorter and less philosophical, and full of more lower numbery goodness.

[BYU 14]

Great job Radii, the key is the way you are feeling, which as I am sure you are finding just motivates you even more.

Keep plugging at it my friend!!

[Brian Swartz]

Weigh-in: 312.3(-3.4 lbs., -27.3 total)

Strange week, the last couple days I worked so much that I didn't really have the option of eating healthy for part of the time. My body also is doing this perplexing thing where I'll maintain the same weight for 7-10 days, then drop a few more pounds quickly, then plateau again. Still another week of progress, no doubt about it, and I'm working on adding chicken and tuna to the diet as my appetite is increasing and I'd definitely rather fill the gap with protein than with junk.

[BYU 14]

Great job Brian, that's a good number for a week!

[Radii]

1/10: 323
2/10: 310.8
3/1: 308.8
3/8: 306.4

So it does appear that the stall I mentioned last week is over and things are moving. Had a good week, 4 solid workout days, eating the way I want every day. I'm still doing the intermittent fasting thing and feeling pretty good doing it. I still have a ways to go to get to the 294 I saw briefly last fall before I lapsed for awhile, and that's still my big 'first goal' as far as weight numbers go.

[Brian Swartz]

Methinks Radii is going to beat me to 300. Looking good!

As for me, my update is a day late but uses my weight from yesterday, I had one of those fun double-shifts so didn't bother posting.

Weigh-In: 309.9(-2.4 lbs., -29.7 total)

Under 310 for the first time in over two years! I also invested in a couple pairs of size-40s which I'm just about ready to start using, got going on some stretching for flexibility, and I've almost completely eliminated pop so it's been a good week.

That was, until Tuesday when I started getting sick. The workload is starting to decrease beginning this week overall, so I wanted to start transitioning into doing some core exercises but that's on hold now until I get healthy again. For now, it's lots of rest, liquids, and Airborne.

[Radii]

eh, my weight is bouncing around like crazy, but even when it stays the same for like 5 days in a row, or drops a lot one day randomly and then creeps back up to where it was over the next few days, I'm good, for now. I've had to tighten my belt a notch, and have a couple pairs of shorts that i can't wear w/o risking them falling down, so i'm clearly losing inches regardless of the scale number, but, you may well beat me to 300 You're doing great btw, keep it up!

[MacroGuru]

Hovering around 205, surgery was successful I have my follow up appointment on Monday and I will get the run down on what my activity levels will be.

I do know the minute I can do more and be active it will help with the weight loss. Also, I fell off the wagon a bit on my diet with the surgery but pretty much kept it to water and 100% juice only throughout so that's been a big positive.

My softball team for last year reached out to me and asked if I wanted to play I said hell yeah.

I want to be about 195 when the season starts at the end of April.

[Radii]

I saw my primary care doc for a checkup yesterday.

good:

-- I am now officially off of blood pressure medication.
-- My A1C (measure of blood sugar over the past few months) was so close to the low end of the spectrum that the instant test machine at the office was unable to register it. When sent off to the lab, it came back as a 4.7. That is even better than its been for the last year for me, and with my keto eating is easier to maintain than it was, so I'm super stoked about that. I should probably be more excited about this, but I'm kinda used to it by now


bad:

-- My cholesterol is a little high. I had kind of stopped taking my cholesterol medicine about a month ago due to issues w/ the mail order pharmacy that I use. So, I'm getting back on that.

-- I have low testosterone (apparently common in male diabetics, esp. obese ones). I've been using a testosterone supplement for about 3 years now. Apparently its not uncommon for folks on testosterone to see red blood cell counts go up, and the doc said that's happened with me steadily over my last 3 visits. Apparently that increases the risk of stroke and heart attack, so most likely I will have to stop using the testosterone. That scares me a bit b/c I remember what my energy level was like before I was on it. We'll see how that goes.



My weight continues to bounce around a lot. It dropped to like 305, then shot up to 308, its in the 307 range right now. My doctor did a good job re-assuring me that I'm doing well and weight will come off if I keep it up, and reminded me that it can be ridiculously hard for diabetics to lose weight. Still frustrating. I had been experimenting with a couple things in my diet that might have thrown my system off, experimenting phase is over so we'll see.


I'm extremely happy to have gotten off of another medicine, I go back in 3 months to check on the things that are a little off right now.

[Brian Swartz]

Wow, that's definitely a lot of challenges to have to deal with. I have to consider myself fortunate that all I have to contend with are discipline, time, and money for healthy food -- it's hard to imagine dealing with such ups and downs even when 'doing everything right'. Respect.

Weigh-In: 306.1(-3.8 lbs., -33.5 overall)

As sometimes happens when sick, particularly sense I tend to only eat when my body wants to and focus on recovery more than diet, my weight dived the day after last week's update(Thursday). A 4-lb. loss though I gained two back the next day. Energy and appetite returned Sunday, so the last couple days I've been basically 'back to normal'.

Starting today, I'm putting in the last piece of the puzzle with some core exercises. I am stiff and sore after a long Tuesday, but initial tests still showed a little better than usual from past experience when starting up so I'm reasonably happy with it.

Pushups: 2(I'll be doing knee pushups till I can hit 5 regular)
Plank: 25s
Squats: 10

I'll be doing 5 sets of each three times a week(the hundred pushups/squats program and similar idea for the plank), starting tomorrow on a Thursday/Saturday/Monday routine which seems to be best for my schedule at least for now.

From here on out I will not be doing any half-measures. I have two weeks yet to transition until I'm down to what will be my semi-permanent reduced work schedule going forward. Soda is gone completely, I'm eating my full regimen and drinking mostly water. This seemed to me an appropriate point to briefly describe what I'm doing and long-term lifestyle change goals.

Diet

In a nutshell, high-protein to facilitate a reasonable increase in strength and increase metabolism, taking advantage of the fact that muscle burns more calories all on its own. Specifically, I target one gram of protein per lb. of body weight, and figure my target calories based on that(35% protein, 20% fat, 45% carbs). This has worked very well for me in the past and my metabolism is already near peak from what I can tell after the past several weeks of working and eating mostly healthy. At the moment, that means a goal of 3500-3600 calories, which sounds like a ton but I'm still quite a big guy. As I lose weight I continue to lower what I eat to compensate.

Long-Term Goals

My minimum weight goal is 230 or less, which would be 10% over my high-school basketball-playing weight of 210-215. However, I don't really have a 'stop at this weight' goal of any kind, I'm more curious than anything else where I will end up assuming current progress continues. I want to maintain what I think would be a very respectable level of fitness and strength by continuing the core exercises until I can do a daily maintenance amount of 100 pushups, TBD Plank time, and 200 squats. BMI says I need to be under 208 to hit 'normal' weight, but as I am a wider build that may or may not be realistic. So somewhere in the 200-230 range I think is very likely, but further than that I'm not really narrowing it down.

Where I am right now is what I've often called the 'dead zone'. I.e., I've stalled between 290-310 more times than I can count, and spent probably half of the past decade(since I first hit 330, took my health more seriously, and started my up-and-down weight battle) in that range than anywhere else. The lowest I've been in that timeframe is 285, gaining and losing the same 50 lbs. or a portion of them more times than I care to admit.

Milestones

I try to track much smaller milestones(5-15 lbs. apart) so that I have small things to celebrate along the way. The next three:

305.6 -- Only a half-pound away here, hopefully next week I will hit 10% of body weight lost since the first of the year.
300 -- Getting rid of the '3', an obvious big one.
291 -- At this point I will hit 35 on the BMI scale, and move from Obesity II to Obesity I. I'm currently 36.8, and started essentially off the scale at 40.8. I would also basically be through the 'dead zone', a psychologically important achievement.

[Alan T]

Radii,

have you considered doing weight workouts? I don't do much heavy lifting myself, but weight lifting in a structured workout routine has been shown to burn off weight as it consumes a very solid number of calories. Plus my understanding is weight lifting has a direct effect on increasing testosterone

I'm not a doctor, but just those two things together seemed like it might be ideal for you to try?