The Officialish FOFC Weight Loss Dynasty

[Subby]

Originally Posted by Subby

Just got my cholesterol numbers back. Had never gotten it tested before but I am guessing I am lower than a few years ago.

Cholesterol: 193
HDL: 83
LDL: 102
Triglycerides: 42
VLDL: 8

Using this: Cholesterol HDL/LDL/Triglycerides Ratios Calculator

I got this:

Your Total Cholesterol of 193 is DESIRABLE
Your LDL of 102 is NEAR OPTIMAL
Your HDL of 83 is OPTIMAL
Your Triglyceride level of 42 is NORMAL

RATIOS:

Your Total Cholesterol/HDL ratio is: 2.33 - (preferably under 5.0, ideally under 3.5) IDEAL
Your HDL/LDL ratio is: 0.814 - (preferably over 0.3, ideally over 0.4) IDEAL
Your triglycerides/HDL ratio is: 0.482 - (preferably under 4, ideally under 2) IDEAL

I came back to this thread to check on my old cholesterol readings, as I just received some new ones today.

Your Total Cholesterol of 205 is BORDERLINE
Your LDL of 98 is OPTIMAL
Your HDL of 99 is OPTIMAL
Your Triglyceride level of 42 is NORMAL
RATIOS:
Your Total Cholesterol/HDL ratio is: 2.07 - (preferably under 5.0, ideally under 3.5) IDEAL
Your HDL/LDL ratio is: 1.010 - (preferably over 0.3, ideally over 0.4) IDEAL
Your triglycerides/HDL ratio is: 0.404 - (preferably under 4, ideally under 2) IDEAL

So basically my bad cholesterol has gone down a tic and my good cholesterol has gone up about 20%, pushing my overall cholesterol reading into the WORRY ZONE. I think it will be okay.

Since I last checked in during the spring I've been in the 165 to 175 range. I would like to get down to 160 at some point, mostly for racing purposes. I have been pretty wide open with what I was eating, mostly because my activity level was/is the highest it has ever been (I biked 10,000 miles last year with over 500K feet of climbing). I did decide to give up sweets this year just to see what laying off of them will do for me over like six months. We'll see. Hope folks will check in over the next few weeks to report on their progress!

[sabotai]

My progress: I'm back to square one again.

I turn 40 this year. I really need to stop this "lose 20 pounds in 3 months, gain it all back over 9 months" infinite loop I've been stuck in for the last decade.

[NobodyHere]

With spring coming around I'm back on the fitness wagon. I'm still in the upper 180s so I'm pretty much at where I left off.

[NobodyHere]

Originally Posted by NobodyHere

6-18-16:186.4

Woohoo! a new low!

Just to put a number out there my current weight is 187.8, so not too bad of a gain from the year before.

[NobodyHere]

186.1

Glad to see the loss but my eating/exercise habits were terrible, probably just daily fluctuations or something.

[Subby]

Incredible read: The Best Fat Loss Article on the Motherfuckin’ Internet

[Brian Swartz]

Originally Posted by Subby

Incredible read: The Best Fat Loss Article on the Motherfuckin’ Internet

That's a heck of a link there. I'm definitely going to use the article here as I, at least to the small degree that one person can, attempt to drag this thread out of the land of necro for my personal use -- and perhaps others will rejoin, perhaps not. I've got the usual reasons for wanting to do so, not the last among them being adding to my own motivation to keep on. This 'reset' post will be pretty long -- I'll get to the results in another post. Speaking of which(all quotes that don't indicate otherwhise are from that link):

Originally Posted by Physiqonomics

the more you look for motivation, the less motivated you become, because you don't do anything. Action begets motivation

Very much so.

Personal History

Many moons ago, in the mid-90s, I was your average HS athlete; in pretty good shape but I definitely could have been in better, training was inconsistent, etc. At that point I was at 210-215 lbs. on my 6-4, wide-bodied frame. I wish the doctors were right: based on the size of my feet(size 14 in 8th grade) they expected me to be about 6-9. Then I probably could have made a living playing basketball in Europe ... but I might not have taken it seriously enough for that to happen anyway. In any case, college was a dark time in my life personally, and I turned the 'freshman 15' into 25. From that point(240 at age 19), I added 5-10 lbs. annually for my 20s, and I was over 300 lbs. and into my 30s before I started fighting back with any serious, sustained effort. I've lost up to 50ish pounds a few times since, always gaining it back eventually. For most of my 30s I vacillated in the 300-330 range.

A Strange Injury

About three years ago now, I noticed one evening that my right ankle was aching. I figured it would be fine in the morning -- but it was worse. Then I thought it was arthritis, which I'd had an issue with in my left hip a few months earlier, so I tried to treat it the same. Didn't really help much, and I was limping around everywhere. After extended shifts at work I would barely be able to get from the car to the house. There were times I literally couldn't put any weight on it at all. In one of life's rather ironic financial reverses, I had just dropped down to one job after working two(about 65 hrs. or so a week) to get out of debt and build up a solid emergency fund. That fund quickly went hasta la bye-bye due to the medical bills, which eventually included a bone scan, umpteen XRays, and an MRI.

In June 2015 I had surgery that I couldn't afford and still haven't paid off the costs for to remove a piece of bone that broke off the back of my ankle(talus) and re-attach the tendon. Apparently I sprained my ankle, which I've done so very many times, at some point and barely noticed. I'd worked on it injured like that for about a year, which all the medical professionals said was basically insane(they're not wrong). The excellent doctor who did the surgery said the piece of bone I had flopping around in the back of my ankle was roughly the size of a walnut, the largest one he's ever removed in that kind of injury. I've always been the kind of guy that, if I injure myself, I don't do it halfway. I actually landed on volleyball when I was younger for my most severe sprain(same ankle), and the thing blew up like a freaking basketball. Would have literally been better off breaking it.

After this I ended up working more than I should have, various financial issues and trouble getting around complicated recovery and also led to a less active lifestyle and also more difficulty in eating properly. Not a real good recipe for the battle with weight. Eventually I quit my job of 15 years in March 2016 and started working closer to home, partly because I just couldn't physically handle the workload anymore though there were other factors.

A Unusual Confluence of Events

At that point, I knew I was at a new 'high' weight-wise, but I didn't realize exactly how bad it was due to a faulty scale that was registering significantly low. I have come to realize, via estimation, that as of summer a year ago I had reached an absolutely disgusting 390 lbs. or so. When you tend towards inertia, can't move around much, and have extended periods where you depend on others for transportation, it's a heck of a lot easier to eat what is convenient rather than what is healthy. That's not an excuse, it just became easier to do so. And oh my goodness the crap that I would eat, totally overwhelming the healthy things. The triple threat of ice cream, soda(multiple 12-packs a week plus a ridiculous amount more at work) and the WMI(Weapon of Mass Increase) known as the Baconator were a regular part of my intake for far too long.

Which brings us up to this last June, a year later. The one really good thing that had happened is having a job with regular, consistent hours. That brought with it some therapeutic effects to my bad ankle, which in turn brought slowly improving personal habits. I'd lost almost 20 pounds over the course of a year, a relative drop in the bucket but not nothing, and was now in the low 370s. A few things happened in a short period of time; a brother got married(another to come in a month), I turned 40 years old, I finally managed to get a reliable vehicle for the first time in several months after my trusty Malibu died over the winter, and I started to get the first small signs of coronary issues. And there was more. A guy I used to work with went under the knife for gastric bypass. He was almost a decade older than me, and significantly bigger(initially 450 when the process started for him), with more substantial general health issues, esp. with his feet.

All of this lit a rather massive fire under my arse to not be doing that myself by the time I was 50 -- if I was even still around for it. I'd like to live a few more decades but it sure isn't going to happen with my lifestyle as it is/was. I know from research I've done in the past that past 40, every year brings a major escalating risk of heart attacks and like for men who are obese. I was either going to act now, or accept likely becoming a statistic sooner rather than later. I should be in worse shape than I am -- my family tends towards longevity and there's more hypoglycemia in our tree than diabetes. I don't have it, though I'm like the poster child candidate for Type 2 risk. Not a guarantee that I won't get it or whatever, but I don't have any other known notable disorder issues like those others have mentioned. So I could be a lot worse off.

[Brian Swartz]

A New, Desperate Beginning

So I gradually started taking steps. #1 was cutting out all soda as it usually is. I didn't quite get there all the way, but I got rid off 95% of it within a few days. Then I started doing other physical things, going back on my traditional eating plan, etc. I hadn't been 'off the wagon' for this long before, so there was some considerable pushback to put it mildly from my mortal coil. It felt a lot like this looks(first half of the video):

Peter Pan Back in Training - YouTube


The Program

** Eating Plan(not 'diet', which is temporary, 'lifestyle change' is permanent, blah blah blah). I went back to what's worked for me in the past: high-protein, low-fat. Through different math I've always ended up on the low end of the calorie range in that linked article of 9-14 cals. per pound of body weight. 9.14 cals/lb. is how things work out there.

** Basic Stretching -- I hit all of the major muscle groups, and also do some ankle stuff with therapeutic latex resisting bands, basically pushing the joint in all four directions. I have considerably reduced range-of-motion in the bad ankle and that may always be the case, but nothing but good comes of doing what I can to strengthen it.

** Push-ups, plank, and squats for core strengthening exercises 3x a week.

** Cycling for cardio. With the ankle issue walking/jogging is basically out of the question and not recommended more me; biking is almost zero impact. Fortunately I live out in the country with some light-traffic roads around me, some flat areas and some fairly hilly. It's a near-perfect environment for my goals here. 6 days a week here.

** Sundays Off. This will be my reporting day as it's the one day I have off 95% of the time consistently. All I do is stretch on these days, no ankle exercises, no anything else other than eating well. It's a recovery day so that I'm ready to punish my body with no remorse the next week again.

Progress So Far

I lost weight at a scary-fast rate at first; 25 pounds in about three weeks! That's ridiculous, but it was fueled by an unusual problem. I couldn't eat enough, esp. at first. That's because I wasn't actually eating that much before by volume, but a metric crapton of it was of the sugary, fatty, calorie-dense variety. My calorie target right now is a little over 3000; I was quite full after about 2300 of healthy input at first. Appetite has slowly improved with the physical activity and the two numbers are really close together now, but at the beginning I was making a new notch on my belt every week. Losing that much that fast isn't healthy or sustainable, but it slowed down considerably. I hit a wall a few weeks back and didn't lose anything for about 10 days, then had a couple good weeks recently and it looks like I've just run into another plateau this past weekend. That's more like what I'm used to in the past and is probably going to be more consistent.

** Sleep/Energy -- I'm not quite there on this front but it's a heck of a lot better than it was. When starting I would have to take a nap at some point daily because I didn't have enough energy to get through the day. Now that's very rare, but I will go to bed early probably between a third and half the time. Which feeds back into the appetite thing; I skip part of my normal daily allotment when I do this, so I'm not there completely on that either.

** Eating Plan -- I've done much better this time at 'missing small' than I have in the past. That is, if I find myself in a situation where I'm hungry and don't have anything healthy on hand, I'll pick up a 200-cal. Gatorade or get a couple Egg McMuffins for a few hundred-cal fix. That beats the heck out of a 1500+-cal fast-food offering, usually followed by a sizable bag of Ranch Doritos and a full pint of butter pecan ice cream(another evil substance), because I just must eat my stress now and go on sugar overload to make myself feel better. NO. I don't eat 100% healthy all the time, but when I make an exception(cookout with relatives, dining with friends, etc.) I do reasonably and then get right back on the wagon afterwards for the most part. Hopefully this will continue.

** Biking -- Started on a pretty flat 1.5 miles a day, and there were a few days the first week that were rough to get through. That was early July ... 7 weeks in I'm now doing a hillier 2.6 miles a day, and at a somewhat faster pace. Real good progress here.

** Core Exercises -- I've made some progress on the pushups(knee/wimpy variety right now), but the lower-body movements are basically stuck in park at the moment. Multiple reasons for that but the main one is general soreness, esp. around an arthritis issue in my right knee that I've got to be fairly careful of. Some days are much better than others. Getting stronger gradually, but when it comes to the plank and squats I don't much progress for a while.

[Brian Swartz]

Weekly Update

So, here's where we stand as of today.

Weight

6.?.16 -- 391?
6.20?.17 -- 373?
8.06 -- 338
8.13 -- 338.3
8.20 -- 334.6
8.27 -- 330.6

Next Milestone -- 329(40 BMI)

Almost eight pounds in two weeks, and over 40 since I re-started this journey. 60 down from the peak over a year ago. That's a fine start that I'm quite happy with. About a pound of last week's loss is 'baked in' due to a change in what I wear when doing my daily weights. The numbers here are all 3-day averages; i.e., Friday/Saturday/Sunday combined. That cancels out more of the noise and gives a better picture of weekly changes I find. The Milestone there is my next short-term goal, which I'll hopefully hit next week depending on how long the current plateau lasts. I find it helpful to have something to work towards which I can achieve in the next few weeks. In this case, it's the next BMI level -- as they are divided into increments of 5, this will take me from Obesity III to Obesity II.

** Biking -- 7.8 miles(13.8*, 12.9, 10.0, 11.0)

In parentheses are the four previous weeks; this one wasn't very good because I only got three rides in. A family event with the eclipse took out one day, and the tube on my rear tire needing to be replaced took out the others. I should have it back by tomorrow night hopefully and be back in business.

In my neck of the woods(Western Michigan), daylight savings time basically coincides with the time of year where it's really too cold to do this on a regular basis. I'm seven weeks in here; 10 more to go until that hits in early November. Then it'll basically be five months off for the winter season(or seasons: Jeff Foxworthy's assessment of Michigan seasons as consisting of early winter, dead of winter, still winter, and road construction is not far off the mark).

** Knee Push-ups -- 42(42, 45*, 38, 31)

For the core exercises these are all totals from the whole week, a one-stop shopping number for comparison. As you can see I've stalled here the last few weeks.

** Plank -- 28(27, 87, 102*, 70)

Measured in seconds here. I've sort of crashed and burned on this recently, but again I think that's due to increased activity elsewhere.

** Squats -- 10(5, 15, 44*, 15)

Had that one week where it looked like I was going to make progress, and then crashed.

This Week

I've been a little lax on a few things the last week, nothing big and results are still good, but a lot of small lapses still adds up. So I want to tighten that up again and be more disciplined, and continue towards getting fully on top of the whole energy/sleep/eating tug of war. I think I'm almost there. I want to work towards fasting one day a week(Sunday) in a more medium-term kind of target, but I need to get 2-3 weeks minimum of solidly hitting my eating and sleep cycle stuff in the bullseye before I can entertain those thoughts. A more regular week on the bike once I get it back will be part of that.

Long-Term Goals

Seemed a good place to throw this in. Ultimately I would like to get to a point of maintaining a more-or-less healthy weight. BMI says the upper limit of 'healthy' for a 6-4 person is 205 ... 5-10 less than I was in high school. You never know, but I very seriously doubt I get back there. One of the things with using a 'one-size-fits-all' metric like BMI is that it's good as a general guideline, but isn't going to fit everyone. In my case I have tree-trunk legs and a wide upper bod, so I'm always going to be somewhat bigger than BMI thinks I should be. I'm aiming here for 230 or lower. That should get me at least in the right ballpark, and of course it would be one heck of a lot better than where I am today. Using the Phyiqonomics idea of 0.5-1% of body weight lost weekly, that would put me at 230 in anywhere from 37 - 73 weeks from now; mid-May of next year on the low end, late January of 2019 on the high end. Life happens, illnesses and other things will interrupt most likely, and sustaining 1% weekly is not realistic in my experience. But making it by the end of next year or somewhat sooner should be achievable. So on a basic level, I'll consider this effort an unqualified success if I can wake up on New Year's Day of 2019 at 230 or less.

As far as the other stuff goes, 100 pushups, 200 squats, and a 2-minute plank are good fitness goals for daily maintenance. I'd like to build up to a one-hour daily ride in the interim, shortening to a faster-paced, 20-30 minute journey once I hit my weight target.

At that point I would be able to decide how restrictive a lifestyle I want to try and go with, how much work into maintaining it or going even lower versus the time and effort required, etc. That'll depend on how I feel then, but 95%+ of the battle will have been won if I can get to 230 and stay there. A hair over 100 pounds to go now. Piece of cake :P.

[Brian Swartz]

9.3 Weekly Update

This week ... did not go as planned. I was a lot more tired at the start of it and saw a weight spike of a few pounds from Sunday to Tuesday. Then on Wednesday I figured out why, as the first signs of a wonderful new sinus infection began to emerge. Figures I'd get sick and derail things as soon as I started posting about the journey here, but the weather is turning cooler and it's going around with the start of the school year and all that. Nothing for it but to stock up on the Airborne, Dayquil, soft foods like soup and applesauce, cut out the dairy, etc. and try to ride it out. Didn't do any exercising past Tuesday as that would just make me sicker. The job is just getting healthy right now, which means sleeping as much as I need to, etc.

Weight

6.?.16 -- 391?
6.20?.17 -- 373?
8.06 -- 338
8.13 -- 338.3
8.20 -- 334.6
8.27 -- 330.6
9.3 -- 329.2

Next Milestone -- 329.0(40 BMI)

Dropped another pound and a half anyway, probably mostly due to reduced appetite with being ill. I'm just a hair over the BMI goal there still. Could fluctuate either way over the next week.

** Biking -- 5.2 miles(7.8, 13.8*, 12.9, 10.0). Got a couple of good days in, sore the first day but felt good the second. And then I had to shelve it of course.

** Knee Pushups -- 33(42, 42, 45*, 38). Did pretty well the first two days before cutting this off.

** Plank -- none(28, 27, 87, 102*)

** Squats -- 15(10, 5, 15, 44*). Had one real good day on Monday, then the physical issues starting catching up with me.

Hopefully by next week I'll at least be coming out of this and heading towards restarting the routine. Medicating and recovery is my job this week.

[heybrad]

Looks like its been 1.5 years since I checked into this thread. Things got worse before they started getting better. I was back up to 290 at the start of June and just basically a mess. I decided to give myself a bit of a birthday gift in June by joining Weight Watchers. As of this morning (since starting Weight Watchers) I'm down 31 lbs to 259. Food wise I've never felt more in control and I've made numerous positive changes. I'm not doing anything special outside of making smart exchanges using my WW points but now seem to be enjoying much more vegetables and fruit and at this point I'm pretty much a fish only for meat guy. For exercise I've made things fairly simple by trying to find something I enjoy. I'm walking/running the various battlefields that I live around. I'm getting ready to start mixing in some longer hikes. I've done longer street runs in the past but the nature walks/runs are making me want to find a trail race of some sort to work towards. Overall I feel great while I still have a long way to go.

Keep fighting the battle everybody!

[Radii]

congrats heybrad, that's awesome progress!!!

[Brian Swartz]

Always good to see others being successful.

[Brian Swartz]

9.10 Weekly Update

Felt rather miserable the first few days of the week before the worst of my head cold broke. Since then it's been slow improvement -- I'm not quite rid of it yet but pretty close. Hoping to resume my normal return by the middle of this week. Continuing to sleep quite a bit(about 10-11 hours a day) and eating softer foods to aid recovery.

Weight

6.?.16 -- 391?
6.20?.17 -- 373?
8.06 -- 338
8.13 -- 338.3
8.20 -- 334.6
8.27 -- 330.6
9.3 -- 329.2
9.10 -- 334.3(+5.1)

Had an increase of several pounds in the middle of the week right when I got over the worst of the illness, held steady at 335-336 for a few days, and now trending down again the last couple. Could have done without that, but I think it's temporary. Body does weird things, esp. when not feeling well.

Getting back into the 'program' as soon as possible is definitely this week's main goal.

[Brian Swartz]

9.17 Weekly Update

Weight

6.?.16 -- 391?
6.20?.17 -- 373?
8.13 -- 338.3
8.20 -- 334.6
8.27 -- 330.6
9.3 -- 329.2
9.10 -- 334.3
9.17 -- 333.5(-0.8)

Next Milestone(40 BMI): 290.0(4.5 lbs. to go)

A bit back in the right direction overall this week, but still wildly fluctuating. I've been at about 95% health-wise for a few days now, only a very minor bit of congestion, and I'm working on re-establishing the normal routine. That's proven harder than anticipated; my psyche doesn't like change and wants to do what it wants to do when it wants to do it. Haven't been able to get any biking in yet due to a combination of long shifts and sunset coming earlier. That will probably be sporadic going forward now and daylight savings hits in seven weeks. I've got two of the next three days off though so I should be able to use those to get back out there and get some habits re-established.

This Week's Goals

Getting back in the groove as much as possible on eating, biking, and the core exercises. Already made some progress on the first front the last few days, and it's time to get the physical parts rolling again.

[Brian Swartz]

9.24 Weekly Update

Weight

6.?.16 -- 391?
6.20?.17 -- 373?
8.20 -- 334.6
8.27 -- 330.6
9.3 -- 329.2
9.10 -- 334.3
9.17 -- 333.5
9.24 -- 330.5(-3.0)

Next Milestone(40 BMI): 329.0(1.5 lbs. to go)

Some good, some not-so-good this week. Ate pretty well and my weight finally stabilized from all the yo-yoing, and a solid drop has me within spitting distance of the BMI milestone again. Thought I was ready to go biking again on Monday, and went 2.1 miles which ended up being about a half-mile too far. Got quite light-headed the last half-mile, and that issue persisted in diminishing amounts for the rest of week. The heat wave we'd had doesn't help I'm sure, but I don't usually tend towards faintness. The main thing I'd like to have done better is be more consistent on my stretching which was hit and miss. With one of my brother's getting married this week, the chances of me dipping the weight much lower probably aren't real high. I'd settle for breaking even.

[Radii]

Woo, good to see the scale moving again! And good luck with the wedding.

[Brian Swartz]

Thanks, it's a struggle at the moment so I appreciate it.

[Brian Swartz]

10.1 Weekly Update

Weight

6.?.16 -- 391?
6.20?.17 -- 373?
8.27 -- 330.6
9.3 -- 329.2
9.10 -- 334.3
9.17 -- 333.5
9.24 -- 330.5
10.1 -- 332.3(+1.8)

Next Mileston -- 40 BMI(329.0); 3.3 lbs. to go.

Ate a little more than I should have the weekend festivities but not excessively so. Before that I was trending downwards, so I expect to lose all of this couple pounds at least next week. The heat wave has broken -- having the second half of September be warmer than summer is just weird -- but we're still unseasonably warm around here. The light-headed fun stuff has all but gone away with it, so the hope is to be full steam ahead again this next week. It's time to get out of this rut I've been in the last several weeks; although that's still better than gaining or being where I was a few months ago, stalling isn't good for either the body or the motivation.

[Brian Swartz]

10.8 Weekly Update

Weight

6.?.16 -- 391?
6.20?.17 -- 373?
8.27 -- 330.6
9.3 -- 329.2
9.10 -- 334.3
9.17 -- 333.5
9.24 -- 330.5
10.1 -- 332.3
10.8 -- 328.6(-3.7)

Next Milestone(NEW) -- 323.0(50 lbs. lost); 5.6 lbs. to go

Very nice week on the scale as I finally get below the 40 BMI threshold, new low for this push. I was able to be more active this week and only missed one day each that I could have done on biking and the strength exercises. I want to make that no days next week, but I'm quite satisfied with being able to get things moving in the right direction, and finally getting my body's cooperation in being more active than I've been able to do in several weeks. The faintness seems to finally be totally gone.

** Biking(4.5 mi.) -- 3 days, could have been 4 here. Went down to the original distance of a mile and a half, being cautious to avoid any further light-headed issues. That hasn't been a problem so I'm going to start to ramp up the length of my rides again starting today, and see what I can accomplish in the last month of relatively decent weather for it.

** Knee Pushups(17). I think I've lost about a quarter of the flexibility and strength I had built up -- not good but there's still permanent progress there as compared to June. Starting to go back the right direction again now.

** Squats(2). Balance really an issue at the moment, not really unexpected given the hiatus.

October Goals

Getting as much riding is as possible while I still can, and also getting to the 50-pounds lost threshold. At least two, probably three weeks for that if things go well. I should be able to make it by month's end if I'm focused.

[Brian Swartz]

10.15 Weekly Update

Weight

6.?.16 -- 391?
6.20?.17 -- 373?
9.3 -- 329.2
9.10 -- 334.3
9.17 -- 333.5
9.24 -- 330.5
10.1 -- 332.3
10.8 -- 328.6
10.15 -- 325.3(-3.3)

Next Milestone(NEW) -- 323.0(50 lbs. lost); 2.3 lbs. to go

Another big week on the weight front, and it's very possible I'll make it to the next mini-goal next week. Also possible I'll hit another plateau. This week was a tough one at work, which led to me eating somewhat less and working off a lot of calories that way. Pretty much every major muscle group was quite sore by the end of it. No sign of that changing anytime soon. I've also evolved a rather interesting relationship with food recently. I'm rarely noticeably hungry or full, spending the most of the time in a state of casual indifference towards what I eat. That's not my usual pattern. When I do eat, I can eat quite a bit -- but I could just as easily go hours more without it and have no problem. My maintenance calorie amount just dipped below 3000 a day this week, but I find usually I'm just fine at about 2500 or so.

Another positive sign is that I'm finding I can bounce back and recover from the soreness a lot better now, a sign that I've seen in the past after a significant amount of time of living healthier. That helps in a lot of ways, but just general quality of life from it is enough.

** Biking(7.6 mi.) -- 4 days, probably about where things will stay the last three weeks of riding season. Upped the distance to just under two miles, where it'll probably stay for a bit.

** Knee Pushups(32). Got in all three strength days this week, another step in the right direction.

** Squats(5). Soreness in the lower back and the bad ankle made any progress here basically impossible.

[Brian Swartz]

10.22 Weekly Update

Weight

6.?.16 -- 391?
6.20?.17 -- 373?
9.10 -- 334.3
9.17 -- 333.5
9.24 -- 330.5
10.1 -- 332.3
10.8 -- 328.6
10.15 -- 325.3
10.22 -- 323.7(-1.6)

Next Milestone -- 323.0(50 lbs. lost); 0.7 lbs. to go.

I did hit plateau this past week after two straight with 3+ lb. drops, with six out of seven days seeing a weight within 0.6 lbs. of the same number despite another tough workweek quite similar to the previous one and slightly better execution of the basics on my end. Not entirely surprising, and it did drop more today so it looks like I may be breaking out of the stall now. Skipped stretching routine yesterday which wasn't good, but the rest of the week everything was as it should be. Overall energy levels continuing to improve, etc.

** Biking(7.6 mi.) -- 4 days again, same frequency and distance as last week.

** Knee Pushups(35, +3). Up and down but overall a small gain.

** Squats(10, +5). Had one good day here(Wednesday), the rest of the week wasn't able to do any for the usual soreness/balance reasons. Hoping this week I'll have a bit more positive consistency.

[Kodos]

Almost to 50! Keep working, Brian!

[Brian Swartz]

Thanks -- it's been a good week aside from a 3-day rainstorm. Nothing severe, just 60+ hours of basically constant rain earlier in the week.

[Brian Swartz]

10.29 Weekly Update

Weight

6.?.16 -- 391?
6.20?.17 -- 373?
9.17 -- 333.5
9.24 -- 330.5
10.1 -- 332.3
10.8 -- 328.6
10.15 -- 325.3
10.22 -- 323.7
10.29 -- 320.7(-3.0)

Next Milestone(NEW) -- 310.0(top of my 'danger zone'); 10.7 lbs. to go.

Another good week, puts me over the 50-lb. plateau and on to my third mini-goal here(out of 12). A lot of core soreness, particularly upper legs/hips/lower back area, in the middle of the week and was quite stiff. I think I've worked my way through most of that but it's always something. Actually a somewhat easier work-week which my body was telling me it needed, so that's good. The next stage I'll explain in a separate post.

** Biking(9.5 mi.) -- 5 days, and it would have been a full six without the rain. Most of them were tough to finish, partly due to cold weather and a back tire I need to replace but am procrastinating on till next year. Consistently highs are below 50 now, and daylight savings adjustment hits in a week. On the other hand the body does metabolize somewhat better to try to heat itself in the winter(anytime below 65 F from what I've read), so that'll help burn off a few extra pounds in the winter.

** Knee Pushups(37, +2) -- Continuing to basically stagnate here.

** Squats(9, -1) -- Getting a small amount in each week, but some days the stiffenss/soreness keeps me from being able to do any. I'll probably need to get past that before this starts taking off.

[Brian Swartz]

Phase 2: Danger Zone Approaches

I'm just over a third of the way to my goal of 230 lbs., and the focus will shift a little bit here. Constant soreness to one degree or another remains, but the foundation(getting in shape good enough to be able to do the things which will get me in better shape) is mostly there.

The Danger Zone for me is the range from 290-310. I've gotten to that point at least a half-dozen times in the last decade; I've only made it past, and then only slightly, once. There's multiple reasons for this, but mostly psychological. I've had literally a mental revolt against the whole regimen before, going on a massive eating binge for a solid week. The physical symptoms of being considerably obese(pain in the feet especially, lack of energy, etc.) pretty much go away by that point, reducing the desperation I feel to keep pressing on. Feeling better, it's easy to say "I can skip this today" ... and then a day becomes two becomes a week becomes a month and I look up several months later right back where I started without intending that to ever happen. Another item is 'diminishing visual returns'. I've reached the point now where the physical change is apparent; the gut doesn't have as much extra insulation now, and is basically even with my chest instead of being this large protrusion from my body. Still hangs there but I look at lot better than I did, waist is several inches smaller, etc. and people have started noticing and occasionally commenting on the success. That always feels great, but my body loses weight in a predictable pattern. I'm already starting to see the signs; around this point the waist and stomach almost completely stop shrinking -- the loss switches to the sides of my torso, legs and probably arms a bit, etc. Those aren't as obvious, so the regular visual reinforcement motivation declines as well.

Adding all these things up together, I've lost 50 lbs. at least three times now ... but I've never gotten to 60. I've been on the healthier-living regimen for as long as five months ... and right now I'm nearly to four, depending on how you measure it. As mentioned I've gotten to 300 or close to it on multipole occasions ... but only once below 290 and then it stopped at 282.5, and that was around seven years ago. Aside from just being more determined, I also intend to adopt the 'Phase Diet' if necessary. Basically that's a hormone-resetting approach advocated by Physiqonomics, involving eating more(maintaining or slightly increasing weight even) for two weeks when the body starts rebelling. Increased cravings, weakness, etc. are the symptoms I'm looking for. So far that's under control and the weight's still going pretty rapidly, but I'll do that if I need to in order to avoid torpedoing the progress made so far.

Ankle Update

One last thing here. I mentioned a while back that I'm using flexible exercise bands to strengthen my ankle. There are eight levels of the ones I use, but only the middle six to concern ourselves with there. They come in two sets: Yellow/Red/Green, and Blue/Black/Silver for the more advanced ones. I started on Red, stayed there for a while, then moved to Green and have recently advanced to Blue for three of the four directions. The advanced ones are thicker and more resistant -- esp. Silver. This is another one of my aims to shoot for, getting up to doing those every day. Right now the Blue are plenty of resistance, but the joint definitely is getting stronger over time. It's just really slow, as most injuries are -- esp. when you are putting a lot of weight on them all the time to stress them.

2017 Final Months

At the rate I'm going, I may hit the next milestone by the end of November, but with Thanksgiving and all in there sometime in the first half of December is probably more likely. I'm aiming to hit the half-way point(301.5 lbs.) by year's end ... that's possibly a bit aggressive as it would mean a little over two pounds a week with the holidays figuring in there. No reason I can't get close to that, barring another illness(as I speak people at work getting sick with cold weather arriving). Then I'd have a full year to tackle the second half, which will probably go slower than the first half.

By the time next spring arrives, I hope to be through this 'middle third', which I'll define as having reached 280(50 lbs. left and decisively through the Danger Zone). I'm sure there will be new challenges there, but I don't want to look ahead any further at this juncture. All that is the plan anyway, we'll see what life has in store over the winter.

[Brian Swartz]

I've tried multiple times to do an update here and I've been 'blocked' every time. Weird that I can post whatever I want in other threads. Lost two pounds this week amid what I think was moderate food poisoning so I'll take it. There'll be more information next week, if the site permits me to add it.

[Brian Swartz]

11.12 Weekly Update

Weight

6.?.16 -- 391?
6.20?.17 -- 373?
10.1 -- 332.3
10.8 -- 328.6
10.15 -- 325.3
10.22 -- 323.7
10.29 -- 320.7
11.5 -- 318.6
11.12 -- 317.6(-1.0)

Next Milestone -- 310.0(top of my 'danger zone'); 7.6 lbs. to go.

A smaller drop this week, but still a drop and under the circumstances quite good. I had my first little hiccup or mini-rebellion from my body. For whatever reason, I was really really hungry starting on Tuesday. Debated whether to opt for the self-control option and fight what was going on, and there's a lot to be said for that, but I chose to let myself eat as much as I want -- just keeping it healthy stuff. Mostly succeeded, no dessert-type crap at all although I did have some sausage which isn't much better. The next day I weighed 2.5 pounds more, but even though this particular appetite surged 50-60 hours, I was a little lighter every day from Wed through Saturday. Don't know the cause but I figure I dodged a bit of a bullet here, body just needed a change for a couple days for whatever reason.

** Knee Pushups(40, +1) -- Felt a little weak overall, partly due to the heavy schedule at work.

** Squats(4, -7) -- Right knee really didn't like me for a couple days.

I am increasingly somewhat concerned that overall strength doesn't seem to be improving really at all, but as long as I keep losing the weight that's something I can worry about once I get down to where I need to be.

[Brian Swartz]

11.19 Weekly Update

Weight

6.?.16 -- 391?
6.20?.17 -- 373?
10.8 -- 328.6
10.15 -- 325.3
10.22 -- 323.7
10.29 -- 320.7
11.5 -- 318.6
11.12 -- 317.6
11.19 -- 316.1(-1.5)

Next Milestone -- 310.0(top of my 'danger zone'); 6.1 lbs. to go.

Ran into another plateau this week, but I think I broke free of it today. It's been slower progress so far this month, but still progress. I'll be happy with breaking even or better this week with Thanksgiving coming up. I've also decided to stop posting the strength numbers given how stagnant they've been. I'll update probably monthly or if something changes, but it's real repetitive at the moment -- which of course is still better than regressing, and that would assuredly happen if I stopped working on it. The ankle stretches are an exception. Moved up from blue/green to black/blue bands this week and the adjustment has gone very smoothly. Gotten a lot more resilient on that score.

[Brian Swartz]

11.26 Weekly Update

Weight

6.?.16 -- 391?
6.20?.17 -- 373?
10.15 -- 325.3
10.22 -- 323.7
10.29 -- 320.7
11.5 -- 318.6
11.12 -- 317.6
11.19 -- 316.1
11.26 -- 319.4(+3.3)

Next Milestone -- 310.0(top of my 'danger zone'); 9.4 lbs. to go.

The food-and-family part of Thanksgiving went great. The health part of the week -- not so much. I was already going in the wrong direction before the holiday arrived, indulged more than intended when it got here, and then have been downright lazy about things since, not doing much of anything. So I definitely need a reset here. Get my habits back in order the next couple of weeks so that I can end the year on a positive. Still five weeks to go so more than enough time to get back in the right direction. Still, November ends up being, on the whole, less than a pound and a half loss. I need to do better than that.

[Brian Swartz]

12.10 Weekly Update

Weight

6.?.16 -- 391?
6.20?.17 -- 373?
10.29 -- 320.7
11.5 -- 318.6
11.12 -- 317.6
11.19 -- 316.1
11.26 -- 319.4
12.3 -- 320.8
12.10 -- 322.3(+1.5)

Next Milestone: 310.0(top of danger zone) -- 12.3 lbs. to go.

I've been slacking on updating this, partly because I haven't been feeling well and partly because I've been going in the wrong direction here. A couple bouts with 48-72 hour bugs recently, but I've also been lazy. Surprised at how quickly I started gaining some back, even though I haven't been eating THAT badly. Shook my confidence in getting this done a bit. I'm back in the right direction so I expect to be able to report a better number at the end of this week.

[Brian Swartz]

12.17 Weekly Update

Weight

6.?.16 -- 391?
6.20?.17 -- 373?
11.5 -- 318.6
11.12 -- 317.6
11.19 -- 316.1
11.26 -- 319.4
12.3 -- 320.8
12.10 -- 322.3
12.17 -- 315.6(-6.7!!)

Next Milestone: 310.0(top of danger zone) -- 5.6 lbs. to go

This was, uh, not exactly expected. Certainly isn't because I did a great job of starving myself or working out. Ate pretty well but also had some popcorn and an absurd amount of soda at a movie, etc. Got a couple days of stretching in but not as many as I'd like and need to. I think it's a combo of just being healthy again and more consistent eating, probably mostly water-weight stuff going away. Either way I'll take it. Just starting to settle now, it was dropping every day like crazy. Down to where I was the week before Thanksgiving which was the low point, and hopefully I'll handle Christmas a bit more sensibly.

[Brian Swartz]

12.31 Weekly Update

Weight

6.?.16 -- 391?
6.20?.17 -- 373?
11.19 -- 316.1
11.26 -- 319.4
12.3 -- 320.8
12.10 -- 322.3
12.17 -- 315.6
12.24 -- 316.5
12.31 -- 320.5(+4.0)

Next Milestone: 310.0(top of danger zone) -- 10.5 lbs. to go.

The last couple weeks have continued to be strange; the only consistent thing is it being really busy at work with the holidays. Before Christmas I once again bounced off the 315 point like it's trampoline or something. Got self-indulgent at the end of the week before Christmas, and I was about three pounds heavier than today's weight by the middle of the week before starting to decline again.

So 2017 is in the books, and after a strong summer and fall I've basically flat-lined overall since late October. The holidays are over and I don't do anything particularly special for New Year's, so there are no more built-in fluctuations.

** Short-Term Goal -- Get consistent again with the daily exercises and eating, sooner rather than late to establish post-holiday habits again. With this, get through the 315-lb. roadblock which I've gotten close to now three times but haven't broken through yet.

** Mid-Range Goal -- I'd really like to be light and strong enough to see significant lower-body strength gains by the time biking season rolls around(roughly late March). If so, I should be able to make some real headway on the cardio fitness over the course of the warmer-weather seasons.

** Long-Range Goal -- 90.5 lbs. to lose next year to hit my original goal(230 lbs. by the start of 2019). That's less than two pounds a week, but is probably a bit on the unrealistic side barring a near-perfect year which is unlikely. I should definitely get most of the way there though if I can break through soon.

[NobodyHere]

Throwing my hat into this ring again for one of my New Year resolutions. Current weight is 190. I'm trying to think of good workouts to do since it's freezing outside.

[hoopsguy]

Also going to see if I can chart progress on a weekly basis in 2018. I'm having some of the same struggles with short-term workouts that NobodyHere outlined, due to the prolonged Siberia conditions impacting outdoor running. New Years Day weigh-in was 177.

[NobodyHere]

I think I'm going to start doing some card workouts. Basically you write a bunch of exercises on playing cards (such as 5 pushups or 5 squats, tailor to fitness level). Shuffle the deck and then you simply draw cards and do the exercise. Do it for 20 minutes or so again tailoring to fitness level. I have 27 exercises so far and I'm looking for more. I would love to fill a full deck.

[NobodyHere]

Still 190. I spent most of last week "cleaning" most of the junk food out of my house and bought more nutritional things.

[hoopsguy]

As expected, a grim first week of January for me in terms of weight loss. There were a couple of factors that were working against me:
1.) Pushed hard on treadmill runs the last week of 2017 to hit my yearly goal of 1,000 miles.
- 4 of last 5 days of 2017 on the treadmill
- 10 of last 12 days of 2017 included runs
- Had some general soreness in knees following treadmill that I don't usually see when running outside
2.) Weather was very cold, with highs in single digits and wind chills rarely getting above -10.
3.) We have a party on the first weekend of the year, and I'm normally challenged to get in my normal weekend runs before/after.

So today's weigh-in was the worst of the week; at 179.2 it was the worst I've seen in several years, actually.

Mileage for last week was 8mi. I'm planning on 1100 miles this year, which means that I'll need to average a bit over 20 per week. I expect to get back on track this week, both with mileage and number of days/week running. Diet was not particularly noteworthy this week, excluding the party where I grazed on everything under the sun. Ideally, I would do a little better job of eating at home over the weekend rather than entertaining my daughter's needs to eat out after basketball/soccer games.

1/1: 177.0
1/8: 179.2

I'm not optimistic about major changes in weight next week, as we still have a lot of booze/food in the house following the party. I'll take a week to try and work through some of it, and then we'll throw whatever is left out rather than follow usual patterns of drinking nightly for the month of January. But the back half of January is where I envision hitting my stride with running + diet (something better than abysmal) + alcohol moderation.

[NobodyHere]

1/1 = 190.0 (33.3 BMI)
1/8 = 190.0
1/15 = 188.1

Started eating healthier. Still wanting to find a cheap gym so I can jump on a cardio machine.

[hoopsguy]

1/1: 177.0
1/8: 179.2
1/15: 176.5

Had some "return to the mean" with this weigh-in, which was nice to see but otherwise don't want to react much to it. I did get out and run 4x last week, which is one less than I would like. The work schedule is really soft right now, so I probably need to get over the weather being cold with snow on the ground or lean into some treadmill workouts.

Decent food choices, but nothing exemplary on that front. Still drinking too much Coke (2-3 per day) and put in some effort to clean out the remaining beer in our fridge (also 2-3 per day). I'll stop that this week, which should help bring alcohol impact on weight back into a more normal range.

In other news, I signed up for the Ragnar run in May and booked our spring break trip to Jamaica at the end of March. The former should provide some spur for building up my distance running and create some accountability with the other 11 team members. I'm anticipating taking on some of the longer runs in our group. The latter isn't much of a prod; at 45 the need to look good in a bathing suit is still there, but not in the same way that it was at 20 years old

[Subby]

Originally Posted by hoopsguy

In other news, I signed up for the Ragnar run in May and booked our spring break trip to Jamaica at the end of March. The former should provide some spur for building up my distance running and create some accountability with the other 11 team members. I'm anticipating taking on some of the longer runs in our group. The latter isn't much of a prod; at 45 the need to look good in a bathing suit is still there, but not in the same way that it was at 20 years old

Looking forward to your Ragnar trip report! I've always wanted to give the 6 person team a shot but there aren't five other idiots around here that I trust enough.

[hoopsguy]

1/1: 177.0
1/8: 179.2
1/15: 176.5
1/22: 178.8

This was a disappointing number, as it was the highest weight of the entire week. I did have a birthday dinner with my wife last night, and it was excellent. So at least there is that measure of satisfaction while staring into a weigh-in.

Overall, booze intake was lower and food intake wasn't horrible. But I've been under the weather most of the weekend and it cut into my workouts. I still have not had a weekend where I got both Saturday and Sunday runs in, and that is highly unusual. There is still all kinds of room for improvement on diet (pizza binge on Wednesday was not a great scale decision) but I anticipate next week being a good weigh-in if I get healthy and repeat the same behaviors from this week.

[Brian Swartz]

Keep it going gents! I'm interested in the card idea -- are you going for just cardio/strength stuff there or a combination of the two?

[rjolley]

I picked up the app Seven from GooglePlay. It's based on the seven minute workout. Basically, it's 12 exercises, 30 seconds each exercise, with 10 seconds break between each. Works out to be 7:50 minutes.

They have a basic, full body exercise routine for free that appears to be the basic exercise for the plan. They also unlock one routine per day that you can do for the day after watching a video.

I've been doing it for 2 weeks and overall, it's not bad. I will continue to do both the free plan along with the unlocked plan each day. Don't know how long I'll stick with it, though. I don't know if 15 minutes will actually do much, but I'll give it a couple weeks more and see.

[NobodyHere]

Originally Posted by Brian Swartz

Keep it going gents! I'm interested in the card idea -- are you going for just cardio/strength stuff there or a combination of the two?

Basically I put any exercise I can do with myself and a resistance band. Some activities include but not limited to: pushups, planks, jumping jacks, squats, running in place, lunges, bicep/hammer curls, mountain climbers, leg lifts etc...

I divide the exercise into suits and try to keep it somewhat balanced:
Spades = Arms
Clubs = Legs
Hearts = Cardio
Diamonds = Core

[Brian Swartz]

I hope everyone is still working toward their goals. I'm overdue here.

1.27 Weekly Update

Weight

6.?.16 -- 391?
6.20?.17 -- 373?
12.17 -- 315.6
12.24 -- 316.5
12.31 -- 320.5
1.6 -- 320.6
1.13 -- 321.0
1.20 -- 321.6
1.27 -- 318.0(-3.6)

Next Milestone: 310.0(top of danger zone) -- 8.0 lbs. to go.

I've been slacking both on updating this and on exercise, but I have mostly been eating well. Mostly, not totally. The weight's gone up and down like a yo-yo, but a lot more consistent over the last week and then dropping the last couple days. Hopefully that becomes a trend. I feel like, or perhaps it's more of a hope, I can get more progress if I can just somehow break through that seemingly-magical 315 barrier. I have neither gotten back to full commitment nor given up, but rather am existing in a sort of grudging acceptance of my current state of fitness and weight loss. I'm about 90 pounds too big for that to be a reasonable, sensible option yet. I also know my psychology well enough to know that I'm eventually going to break out of this rut one way or the other, whether it's a positive or negative direction has yet to be determined. At this point, posting weekly here again is another aspect that will probably help.

[hoopsguy]

1/1: 177.0
1/8: 179.2
1/15: 176.5
1/22: 178.8
1/29: 176.6

I was sick all of last week. No exercise at all. No major changes in diet, although alcohol consumption was limited to one beer.

Hoping to get healthy and recalibrate for next week. No other real takeaways on this one.

[Brian Swartz]

2.4 Weekly Update

Weight

6.?.16 -- 391?
6.20?.17 -- 373?
12.24 -- 316.5
12.31 -- 320.5
1.6 -- 320.6
1.13 -- 321.0
1.20 -- 321.6
1.27 -- 318.0
2.4 -- 320.7(+2.7 lbs.)

Next Milestone: 310.0(top of danger zone) -- 10.7 lbs. to go.

The roller-coaster continues. There is a silver lining though; I've been in an unusually positive place mentally for the last week or so, and I did do my exercise routine two of the last three days -- partly motivated by the fact that fatigue issues are starting to return. If I can turn that into a consistent habit it will go a long way I think towards getting me off this merry-go-round.

[hoopsguy]

1/1: 177.0
1/8: 179.2
1/15: 176.5
1/22: 178.8
1/29: 176.6
2/5: 178.6

Disappointing and frustrating weigh-in, which was two pounds higher than anything else during the week. I was 175.0 on the 1st of the month. That said, the pattern of weigh-ins so far this year doesn't tell a story of success.

I'm still laboring under this miserable flu. 2.5 weeks now, and while I'm mostly in the clear it hindered exercise again last week. I'm skeptical of making major changes on the exercise front this week with a major backlog of work that will need to be done by close of business Friday.

That said, one change I do plan to make is to start trying to curb the caffeine/Coke intake. I'm sitting at about 3x per day, which is 400 pretty empty calories a day. I would really like to get healthy before making a cold turkey shift, but I'll look to start cutting back to 1-2 times per day with caffeine this week, including going away from the default breakfast stop at McDonalds for the $1 medium coke. Getting out of that habit should only accelerate any other good changes that I introduce, whether those stem from exercise or diet.

[Brian Swartz]

I hear you on the illness. It is frustrating, but I think your head is in the right place in terms of focusing on getting healthy before making other major changes. In the long-term that approach is more likely to bring results IMO.